(DOWNLOAD) "People v. Buford" by Illinois Appellate Court — First District (2Nd Division) Affirmed in Part and Vacated in Part " eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: People v. Buford
- Author : Illinois Appellate Court — First District (2Nd Division) Affirmed in Part and Vacated in Part
- Release Date : January 26, 1982
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 65 KB
Description
Defendant Dennis Buford was charged by indictment with rape, deviate sexual assault, armed robbery, unlawful use of weapons and armed violence. After a jury trial, defendant was found guilty of rape and armed violence. Judgment was entered on the verdict and defendant was sentenced to 60 years for rape and 30 years for armed violence. Defendant contends on appeal that: (1) the Illinois rape shield statute (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 38, par. 115-7) is unconstitutional as applied to him because it works a denial of his right to confrontation and his right against self-incrimination; (2) the same statute is also unconstitutional as a legislative infringement on the inherent powers of the judiciary; (3) the trial court committed reversible error when it allowed a letter which was purportedly authored by the defendant into evidence without proper authentication; (4) the prosecutor's closing argument contained misrepresentations of law, references to facts not in evidence and attacks on defense counsel's integrity, all of which denied the defendant his right to a fair trial; (5) the logical inconsistency of the jury's verdict demands a finding that the prosecution did not prove defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and (6) the sentences imposed were excessive and should be reduced. On January 19, 1979, at approximately 4 a.m., Chicago police officer Michael O'Connor went to 1711 West 82d Street in response to a radio call. When he arrived with his two partners, they observed the complainant's son standing in a first floor apartment window and pointing towards the alley. As the officers walked through a courtway towards the alley, they heard someone crying. Officer O'Connor testified that he saw defendant and complainant lying in the snow. Defendant was on top of complainant and was holding a gun to her head. Officer O'Connor twice ordered defendant to freeze, after which defendant tried to put his gun underneath the complainant's body, saying tell him I am your boyfriend or else I am going to kill you. When the officers took the defendant's gun and pulled him off of the complainant, they observed that his penis was outside of his pants. The complainant was dressed in a C.T.A. uniform, and her pants were down around her ankles. At the scene, in addition to the gun, the police recovered a satchel full of tools, a shoulder holster and $133 from the defendant.