People v. Butler (In re Butler)

2013 IL App (1st) 113606

996 N.E.2d 273

374 Ill.Dec. 826

In re COMMITMENT OF Johnny BUTLER (The People of the State of Illinois, Petitioner–Appellee, v. Johnny Butler, Respondent–Appellant).

No. 1–11–3606.

Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, Fifth Division.

Sept. 20, 2013.

Rehearing Denied Oct. 23, 2013.

Law Offices of Chicago-Kent College of Law, Chicago (Daniel T. Coyne, Matthews M. Daniels, of counsel), for appellant.

Lisa Madigan, Attorney General, Chicago (Michael A. Scodro, Solicitor General, Michael M. Glick, Lindsay Beyer Payne, Assistant Attorneys General, of counsel), for the People.

OPINION

Justice PALMER delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.

¶ 1 BACKGROUND

¶ 2 The Petition

¶ 3 On June 9, 2008, the State filed a petition pursuant to the Sexually Violent Persons Commitment Act (Act) (725 ILCS 207/1 to 99 (West 2010)) seeking to have respondent, Johnny Butler, adjudicated a sexually violent person (SVP) and committed to the care and custody of the Department of Human Services (DHS). The petition alleged that respondent had previously been convicted of three separate sexually violent offenses. Specifically, respondent was convicted of the sexually violent offense of attempted rape under Cook County case number 75 I 4184 and was sentenced to a term of 15 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. Next, respondent was convicted of the sexually violent offenses of rape and deviate sexual assault as well as the offenses of robbery and aggravated kidnapping under Cook County case number 80 C 3720 and was sentenced to a term of 22 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. Lastly, the petition alleged that respondent was convicted of the sexually violent offense of attempted aggravated criminal sexual assault as well as the offense of aggravated kidnapping under Cook County case number 97 CR 13916 and was sentenced to 22 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. The petition further alleged that respondent was presently incarcerated pursuant to the sentence imposed on 97 CR 13916 and was scheduled to be released within 90 days of the filing of the petition. Respondent had been evaluated by a clinical psychologist who had diagnosed respondent as suffering from “Paraphilia Not Otherwise Specified, Non-consenting Persons,” and “Personality Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, With Antisocial Features.” Finally, the petition alleged that respondent is dangerous to others because said mental disorders make it substantially probable that he will engage in acts of sexual violence.

¶ 4 Pretrial Proceedings

¶ 5 On July 10, 2008, following a hearing in the circuit court of Cook County, the trial court found probable cause to believe that respondent was subject to commitment under the Act. Subsequently, and prior to trial, the trial court heard and ruled upon several motions in limine as well as respondent's proposed voir dire questions. As relevant here, the court granted respondent's “Motion In Limine To Limit Use Of Testimony From Opinion Witnesses Regarding Details Of Respondent's Background.” This motion specifically requested that the jury be given limiting instruction Illinois Pattern Jury Instructions, Civil, No. 2.04 (2006) (hereinafter, IPI Civil (2006) No. 2.04) and that the State be precluded from using the details of respondent's prior convictions in closing arguments as substantive evidence. In granting the motion, the court indicated that it would give the limiting instruction to the jury when the evidence was introduced and after closing arguments. The trial court further ruled that when discussing the details of respondent's prior background in closing argument, “you really must preface any details with the fact that the doctor relied upon the details to form their opinion.” Additionally, respondent's “Motion In Limine To Preclude All Testimony Regarding The Respondent's Custodial Status At The DHS” specifically requested that the State be precluded from eliciting evidence that there had been a finding of probable cause to believe that the respondent was a sexually violent person. This request was also granted. Lastly, respondent proposed the following voir dire question:

“You will hear evidence that Mr. Butler has been arrested and convicted for sexually violent offenses on three separate occasions. Having heard such testimony, can you be fair and impartial deciding his case?”

The trial court initially granted this request but later revisited the issue sua sponte. The court found that the proposed question too specifically addressed the evidence expected to be adduced at trial. Instead, the court substituted its own voir dire question as follows:

“Knowing that Mr. Butler has already been convicted of a sexually violent offense, can you be fair in determining whether or not he is a sexually violent person in this case?”

¶ 6 Jury Trial Proceedings

¶ 7 At trial, the State presented the testimony of Dr. David Suire and Dr. Jessica Ransom and introduced certified copies of respondent's convictions for the sexually violent offences described above. During the testimony, respondent twice moved for a mistrial on the basis that the State's experts violated the court's rulings by referencing the fact that there had been a finding of probable cause in this case. These motions were denied. Respondent presented no evidence. During the State's closing arguments, respondent objected on several occasions to comments made concerning the details of respondent's sexually violent offenses. These objections were overruled. After the jury was instructed as to the law, respondent again moved for a mistrial arguing that the State violated the trial court's rulings in limine by referring to the details of respondent's crimes as substantive evidence. The motion for mistrial was denied. The jury found respondent to be an SVP.

¶ 8 Commitment

¶ 9 The State immediately moved for an initial commitment order under section 40 of the Act (725 ILCS 207/40 (West 2010)), and further asked the trial court to make a determination that respondent should be committed to a secure facility for secure care, control and treatment with the DHS. In response, respondent asked that the court schedule a dispositional hearing and for the opportunity to be evaluated so that the court may decide what recommendation to make to the DHS. The court declined to hold a separate dispositional hearing and found that it did not lack sufficient evidence to find that respondent would not be conditionally released at that time. As a result, the court committed respondent to a secure facility of the DHS.

¶ 10 ANALYSIS

¶ 11 Respondent appeals, arguing that: (1) the trial court erred by declining to allow 4 prospective jurors to be asked whether they could be fair and impartial knowing that respondent had been convicted of sexually violent offenses on three separate occasions; (2) the State improperly argued basis of opinion testimony concerning the details of respondent's offenses as substantive evidence, his objections thereto were improperly overruled, and the court erred in denying respondent's motion for a mistrial in this regard; (3) the trial court erred by rejecting respondent's proposed jury instruction No. 3, which provided that the State has the burden of proving the allegations in the petition beyond a reasonable doubt and instead accepting the State's proposed jury instruction No. 5, which provided that the State has the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that respondent was an SVP; (4) the trial court erred in denying respondent's motion for mistrial when the State twice violated its order in limine barring testimony that there had been a finding of probable cause to believe that respondent was an SVP; and (5) respondent was denied his statutory right to a dispositional hearing. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

¶ 12 The Act defines a sexually violent person as an individual who “has been convicted of a sexually violent offense * * * and who is dangerous because he or she suffers from a mental disorder that makes it substantially probable that the person will engage in acts of sexual violence.” 725 ILCS 207/5(f) (West 2010). To show that respondent is a sexually violent person, the State is required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that respondent: (1) has been convicted of a sexually violent offense; (2) has a “mental disorder” as defined by the Act; and that (3) he “is a danger to others because the mental disorder causes a substantial probability that the subject will commit acts of sexual violence.” In re Detention of Hardin, 238 Ill.2d 33, 43, 342 Ill.Dec. 555, 932 N.E.2d 1016 (2010) (citing 725 ILCS 207/5(f), 15(b) (West 2006)). The Act defines a “mental disorder” as a “congenital or acquired condition affecting the emotional or volitional capacity that predisposes a person to engage in acts of sexual violence.” 725 ILCS 207/5(b) (West 2010).

¶ 13 The Rejection of Respondent's Proposed Voir Dire Question Number 1

¶ 14 The trial court initially agreed to allow respondent to tell prospective jurors that they would hear evidence that he had been arrested and convicted for sexually violent offenses on three separate occasions, and then ask them if having heard that, they could be fair and impartial in deciding this case. Subsequently, the court sua sponte revisited the issue and ruled that this question would not be allowed. Instead, the trial court ruled that it would allow the jurors to be asked with regard to the “index offense” only. By this ruling, respondent claims that the trial court deprived him of his constitutional right to a fair and impartial jury under the sixth and fourteenth amendments to the United States Constitution (U.S. Const., amends.VI, XIV), as well as the Illinois Constitution (Ill. Const. 1970, art. I, § 8).

¶ 15 The purpose of voir dire is to assure the selection of an impartial panel of jurors who are free from bias or prejudice. People v. Terrell, 185...