People v. Beech

1

2024 IL App (3d) 230109-U

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. PATRICK W. BEECH, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 3-23-0109

Court of Appeals of Illinois, Third District

May 20, 2024

This order was filed under Supreme Court Rule 23 and is not precedent except in the limited circumstances allowed under Rule 23(e)(1).

Appeal from the Circuit Court of the 18th Judicial Circuit, Du Page County, Illinois, Appeal No. 3-23-0109 Circuit No. 19-CF-133 Honorable Daniel P. Guerin, Judge, Presiding.

JUSTICE HETTEL delivered the judgment of the court. Presiding Justice McDade and Justice Albrecht concurred in the judgment.

ORDER

HETTEL JUSTICE

¶ 1 Held: (1) Evidence was sufficient to prove defendant guilty of attempted criminal sexual assault; and (2) trial court did not abuse its discretion in sentencing defendant to three-year minimum term of imprisonment rather than probation.

¶ 2 Defendant, Patrick W. Beech, was indicted on six counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault, attempted aggravated criminal sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual abuse criminal sexual assault, attempted criminal sexual assault and criminal sexual abuse. Each count charged a different type of sexual penetration (vaginal and anal) by force and alleged that defendant did so with and without causing bodily harm to the victim. Following a bench trial, the court found defendant guilty of only one count, attempted criminal sexual assault, and sentenced him to three years in prison. Defendant appeals, claiming (1) the evidence was insufficient to prove him guilty of the offense for which he was convicted, and (2) the court erred in sentencing him to a term of imprisonment rather than probation. We affirm.

¶ 3 I. BACKGROUND

¶ 4 On February 19, 2019, defendant was charged by indictment with six counts of sexual misconduct based on allegations that he sexually assaulted and abused the victim, B.H., at a hotel in Du Page County between July 27 and July 28, 2018. Count 1 alleged that defendant committed aggravated criminal sexual assault (720 ILCS 5/11-1.30(a)(2) (West 2018)), asserting that, by the use of force, he knowingly made contact between his penis and the victim's vagina and caused bodily harm to the victim. Count 2 alleged attempted aggravated criminal sexual assault (id. §§ 8-4(a), 11-1.30(a)(2)), claiming that he placed his penis near the victim's anus while attempting to commit aggravated criminal sexual assault and caused bodily harm. Count 3 charged aggravated criminal sexual abuse (id. § 11-1.60(a)(2)) in that, by the use of force, defendant knowingly transferred semen onto the victim for sexual gratification and caused bodily harm. Count 4 alleged criminal sexual assault (id. § 11-1.20(a)(1)), asserting that, by the use of force, defendant committed an act of sexual penetration to the victim by knowingly making contact between his penis and the victim's vagina. Count 5 charged attempted criminal sexual assault (id. §§ 8-4(a), 11-1.20(a)(1)), claiming that defendant placed his penis near the victim's anus while attempting to commit criminal sexual assault. Last, count 6 alleged criminal sexual abuse (id. § 11-1.50(a)(1)) in that, by the use of force, defendant knowingly transferred semen onto the victim for sexual gratification.

¶ 5 At trial, B.H. testified that in the summer of 2018 both she and defendant lived in Minnesota and worked for Cutco, a direct sales cutlery company that employed mostly college students. She was 18 years old at the time, and defendant, who was 19, was her mentor. On July 24, 2018, they spoke on the phone about a sales conference they were both attending that upcoming weekend. Defendant told B.H. that there would be alcohol at the conference and asked her how she felt about that. B.H. told him that she did not drink.

¶ 6 On July 27, 2018, defendant and B.H. attended a two-day sales conference at Pheasant Run in St. Charles, Illinois. After dinner that evening, defendant, B.H., and other members of their sales team were drinking in the hotel parking lot before going out. B.H. consumed three shots of rum before leaving with the group.

¶ 7 At 12:30 a.m., B.H. returned to a hotel room with defendant and several other male co workers. Defendant and B.H. were both drinking. B.H. started to feel sick and she was tired, so she laid down on the bed. Co-worker Ryan Kennedy and defendant laid down on each side of her. Ryan and defendant complimented B.H., telling her that she was pretty and had nice breasts. Defendant took Kennedy's hand and put it on B.H.'s breast. B.H. "laughed it off' and pushed Kennedy's hand away. Defendant then put his hand under B.H.'s buttocks. B.H. said, "No," and moved away. Defendant continued to grab the inside of her thigh and again B.H. said, "Stop." Defendant did not stop, and B.H. "eventually just stopped saying anything."

¶ 8 After a while, defendant asked B.H. if she wanted to leave, and B.H. said, "Yes." They went to defendant's hotel room on the first floor. Other people were asleep in the room. Defendant took B.H. by the hand, and they went into the bathroom. Defendant turned and locked the door. He complimented B.H. again, calling her beautiful. She "kind of laughed it off' and reminded him that he had a girlfriend. Defendant pulled B.H. in and kissed her. She moved back against the counter and pulled back her head, but she was not able to stop defendant. He tried to pull her sweater off, but she resisted. He then took off her bra. B.H. kept pushing defendant's hands away. She tried to pick up her clothes and leave, but she could not leave because defendant was standing in front of the door and it was still locked. Defendant grabbed B.H. by the neck and lifted her onto the bathroom counter. He tried to pull her pants off, but B.H. kicked his hands away, telling him to stop. Despite her protests, defendant was able to remove her pants.

¶ 9 At that point, defendant and B.H. were both naked. B.H. jumped off the counter, and defendant pushed her onto the floor. He wanted B.H. to perform oral sex on him. She refused. Defendant then pushed her, and she hit her head on something. She did not know if it was the tub or the floor. She just remembered that it hurt. At that point, she started feeling nauseous. She felt "out of it" and "couldn't get [her] bearings." When she regained awareness of her surroundings, defendant was spreading her legs and inserting his penis into her vagina. He continued for five or ten minutes. He eventually stopped. B.H. grabbed her clothes and tried to leave again, but defendant stopped her and grabbed her neck. When asked to describe how he grabbed her, B.H. stated: "He took his hand and grabbed the side of my neck to kind of keep me stable to try to stop me from leaving."

¶ 10 Defendant then pushed B.H. up against the counter as she was facing the mirror. B.H. could feel defendant's penis against her back. Defendant put one hand on the back of her neck and pushed his other hand and forearm on her back as he tried to insert his penis into her anus. B.H. testified: "I could feel part of his, like, abdomen on my back as well as I what I believe[d] to be his penis; and he tried to insert it into my anus." She felt pressure on her anus, but he was unable to insert it inside her anus. She tried to scream but her voice was sore from talking at the conference. She ended up on the floor again, where defendant masturbated and ejaculated on her. As soon as he walked out of the bathroom, she got dressed and left.

¶ 11 As B.H. walked down the hallway, she encountered defendant. He apologized and said he was too drunk and did not mean for anything to happen. B.H. was upset. She went into the bathroom in another hotel room and locked the door. While sitting in the bathroom, B.H. sent defendant a Snapchat message that said, "Please leave, I don't want to talk to you right now." Defendant responded:

"I didn't mean any bad intentions.. .I should have asked...I'm so so very sorry

If you want I'll quit after the conference then you won't have to see me again

I'm so sorry

I wasn't as clear in the head as I think I am

I understand how much you hate me now

Have a good night

I take full responsibility of my actions. I apologize once more"

B.H. identified a copy of the message as People's Exhibit No. 8. It was admitted and published to the court over defendant's objection.

¶ 12 After B.H. made it back to her room, she told her manager, Paige Erickson, that she was "taken advantage of' and "raped" by defendant. Then, she took a shower and tried to get ready for the second day of the conference. Defendant tried to talk to her in the ballroom before the first meeting, but Paige blocked him. They arrived back in St. Paul Minnesota late in the evening on July 28. B.H. testified that she never told defendant she wanted to have sex with him and did not say "yes" to any of his sexual advances.

¶ 13 On Monday morning, July 30, B.H. drove to work and met Paige in the parking lot. Paige gave her a letter written by the defendant. B.H. identified People's Exhibit No. 9 as the handwritten letter she received from Paige that morning. After talking to Paige, she went home and told her mother what had happened. They went to the hospital where she spoke with a nurse who conducted an exam.

¶ 14 Nurse Keri Cotton, a sexual assault nurse examiner examined B.H. at United Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota on July 30, 2018. B.H. arrived for the exam with her mother and sister. B.H. told Nurse Cotton that defendant raped her, that he pushed her into the bathroom counter and tore off her sweatshirt, and that penal-vaginal penetration was involved. B.H. told her that defendant tried anal penetration as well, but she kept moving. In her chart, Nurse Cotton noted that B.H....