People v. Watts

224 N.E.3d 278

2022 IL App (4th) 210590

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.Clayton G. WATTS, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 4-21-0590

Appellate Court of Illinois, Fourth District.

Filed December 15, 2022

Appeal from the Circuit Court of Pike County, No. 20CF51, Honorable Alan D. Tucker, Judge Presiding.

James E. Chadd, Catherine K. Hart, and Joshua Scanlon, of State Appellate Defender’s Office, of Springfield, for appellant.

Zachary P. Boren, State’s Attorney, of Pittsfield (Patrick Delfino, David J. Robinson, and John M. Zimmerman, of State’s Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor’s Office, of counsel), for the People.

OPINION

JUSTICE DeARMOND delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.

¶ 1 On July 22, 2021, a jury found defendant, Clayton G. Watts, guilty of criminal sexual assault (720 ILCS 5/11-1.20(a)(1) (West 2018)) and aggravated criminal sexual abuse (720 ILCS 5/11-1.60(d) (West 2018)) in connection with the sexual assault of L.W. The assault occurred after L.W. snuck out of her home to go driving with defendant, who had been drinking alcohol and had made suicidal statements.

¶ 2 On appeal, defendant contends the trial court erred when it (1) admitted propensity evidence under section 115-7.3 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 (Code) (725 ILCS 5/115-7.3 (West 2020)) of three other sexual assaults of young women who had also met defendant and rode in a vehicle with him when he had been drinking; (2) admitted testimony from defendant’s former girlfriend stating defendant had made statements about self-harm to manipulate her; (3) admitted evidence of memes found on defendant’s phone indicating beliefs it was appropriate to sexually assault incapacitated women; and (4) committed cumulative error. To the extent defendant forfeited issues for review, he contends plain error and ineffective assistance of counsel apply. We find no error. Accordingly, we affirm.

¶ 3 I. BACKGROUND

¶ 4 In April 2020, the State charged defendant in connection with the November 21, 2019, sexual assault of L.W., who was 14 at the time of the offense. Defendant was 21 at that time.

¶ 5 A. L.W.’s Assault and Propensity Evidence

¶ 6 At the preliminary hearing, sheriff deputy Chastity Anderson testified she observed L.W.’s interview conducted by a Child Advocacy Center employee. In the interview, L.W. stated she knew defendant as a family friend. He previously dated her cousin, and after they split up, her father befriended defendant, helped him, and treated him like family, On November 21, 2019, defendant sent L.W. messages she believed were suicidal, and he asked L.W. to meet him. Between 11 p.m. and midnight, L.W. snuck out of her house to meet defendant. She could tell he had been drinking. The interviewer did not ask L.W. if she had anything to drink.

¶ 7 Defendant and L.W. drove around and talked. L.W. stated she could tell defendant was "coming on to her," but she did not think it would go any further than that. L.W. asked defendant to take her home, and he stopped the vehicle at the end of her driveway, which was very long. Defendant asked L.W. to wait, prevented her from exiting the vehicle, and then forced himself on top of her. She tried to scream, but he covered her mouth. Defendant took off L.W.’s pants and underwear, rubbed his genitals on her thigh, put a condom on, and penetrated her vagina with his penis. L.W. told him to stop and told him "[y]ou don’t want to do this." L.W. reported defendant was "not able to finish" and became aggravated. L.W. quickly dressed herself and got out of the vehicle. Defendant told her "[l]ove you lots," and the next day, he sent a message stating "[t]hanks for a great night." L.W. took a long shower after the incident and did not report it until March 2020, when she spoke to a school counselor about it.

¶ 8 The State filed a motion in limine seeking to introduce evidence under section 115-7.3 of the Code to show defendant’s propensity to commit sexual assault. The evidence consisted of three previous instances in which defendant allegedly sexually assaulted three different women, M.M., D.C., and J.N. Separate hearings were held regarding each of the allegations.

¶ 9 At the first hearing, M.M. testified defendant was a friend of her husband, Trevor, and he frequently stayed at their house. On Friday, October 18, 2019, Trevor was at work, and M.M., who was 23 at the time, went out drinking at two different bars with defendant and two other men, Kenny Little and Chase Howland. She became intoxicated and did not remember arriving at the second bar, but remembered defendant drove her home after the bars closed. She could not remember anything else about the night. When M.M. woke up the next morning, Trevor was in her bed, and defendant was in the spare bedroom. M.M. testified she felt "dirty" in her vaginal area when she woke up, like she had not cleaned up properly after sexual activity. She described the feeling as "sticky" and "like semen." M.M. knew she did not have sex with Trevor, as he did not arrive home until after 7 a.m., and she was not severely drunk at that time. Around Tuesday or Wednesday she thought about that feeling and had a memory of defendant on top of her with his hand on her stomach, breast, and vaginal area. M.M. did not tell Trevor about the incident until the allegation about J.N. came out.

¶ 10 At the second hearing, D.C. testified she dated defendant for a couple of months approximately two years earlier. They were intimate at that time, but then D.C. did not see defendant again until May 2018 when she saw him at a party. She was 20 years of age at that time. Defendant then texted D.C. and asked if she wanted to "hang out." D.C. got in a vehicle with defendant and two other men, Jaime Howland and Hayden Kessinger, and they drove around on back roads drinking alcohol and became intoxicated. They stopped for bathroom breaks and once for D.C. and Jaime to swim in a river, where she stripped down to her bra and underwear to swim. The men then dropped D.C. off at her house.

¶ 11 About 10 minutes later, defendant texted D.C. and asked her to come over to his father’s house, where he lived. D.C. was very intoxicated but could remember what happened. She testified, she went to defendant’s room, and defendant and Jaime were on defendant’s bed wearing boxer shorts. She remembered laying in between defendant and Jaime on the bed and defendant kissed her. She felt Jaime force his fingers inside of her and then she blacked out. When she woke up, she did not have pants or underwear on, and defendant and Jaime were standing in front of the bed pulling up their pants. Defendant told D.C. she had to leave before his sister got there, and she got dressed and left. When D.C. arrived home, she used the bathroom and discovered she was bleeding, which she believed was caused by forced trauma. The next day, defendant called her and asked if she told her mother what happened. Defendant told D.C. she "was down for it," and D.C. told him she "was not down for it" and she consented to hanging out with him but did not consent to him touching her body. Defendant asked D.C. if she told her mother he raped her, and D.C. said "no." She testified she viewed rape as pinning someone down and using force and, at that point in time, she had no idea what had happened. Defendant kept trying to get D.C. to agree she did not say "no" or "stop" to him. D.C. later learned defendant recorded the conversation. D.C. sought medical attention a couple of days later, and a rape kit was performed, but D.C. had not received the results.

¶ 12 At the third hearing, J.N. testified she knew defendant through friends and her brother, Brenton. Around October 30, 2019, when she was 19 years of age, defendant sent J.N. a Snapchat message asking her if she wanted to "road trip." J.N. met defendant and two others, Brenton and Daniel Howland. The group drove around on back roads drinking alcohol. J.N. testified they were very intoxicated. J.N. stated she weighed around 135 pounds and estimated she consumed about 10 beers. After about three hours, the group went to Daniel’s house. Eventually Daniel stayed home, and Brenton went to an apartment he shared with his girlfriend. J.N. went with defendant where she "crashed at his house that night," with the idea defendant would drive her home in the morning.

¶ 13 J.N. laid down in defendant’s bed, Defendant asked her for a kiss, and she testified; "I did give him a kiss on the lips. It was hot a make-out kiss." She then fell asleep, wearing a shirt, sweatshirt, underwear, and leggings, J.N. later woke up without pants on. A phone light was shining on her bottom half, and defendant was trying to insert his penis into her vagina. He then penetrated her without her consent, J.N. asked "[w]hat the f*** are you doing?" Defendant pretended he was asleep, and she shoved him. While J.N. found her pants and got dressed, she repeated her question and began yelling at defendant, who said "[w]hat are you talking about?" Defendant seemed confused and asked her to be quiet. Defendant’s sister knocked on the door, asked what was going on, and offered J.N. a ride home. J.N. declined and walked to Brenton’s apartment. She told Brenton and his girlfriend what happened and called the police. She had a vaginal swab at the hospital as part of a sexual assault kit. Test results indicated a "likely match" to defendant. J.N. stated she did not feel defendant forcefully tried to rape her, but she felt very violated because she did not give him consent. She admitted she once previously stayed with defendant after drinking and engaged in consensual sex with him.

¶ 14 Zack Orr, chief deputy with the Pike County Sheriff’s Office, testified he reviewed text messages from defendant’s phone and found messages from defendant’s father sent in the early morning of October 30, 2019, asking "[w]hat’s going on?" and "[w]ho is it and why is she crying so much?" Defendant responded, "I don’t even...