People v. Dabbs

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People v. Dabbs

State: Illinois

Court: 3rd District Appellate

Docket No: 3-08-0709 Rel

Case Date: 12/02/2009

Preview:No. 3-08-0709 _________________________________________________________________ Filed December 2, 2009 IN THE APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS THIRD DISTRICT A.D., 2009 THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, ) Appeal from the Circuit Court ) of the Tenth Judicial Circuit ) Tazewell County, Illinois Plaintiff-Appellee, ) ) No. 08-CF-244 v. ) ) GREGORY DABBS, ) Honorable ) Stephen Kouri, Defendant-Appellant. ) Judge, Presiding. _________________________________________________________________ JUSTICE LYTTON delivered the opinion of the court: _________________________________________________________________ Defendant was charged with domestic battery (720 ILCS 5/123.2(a)(1) (West 2006)) against his girlfriend. At trial,

defendant's ex-wife testified that defendant had physically abused her prior to their marriage. The jury found defendant guilty.

Defendant appeals, arguing that section 115-7.4 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 (Code) (725 ILCS 5/115-7.4 (West. Supp. 2007)), which allows prior acts of domestic battery to be We

admissible in a domestic battery trial, is unconstitutional. affirm.

In April 2008, defendant, Gregory Dabbs, was charged with domestic battery and unlawful restraint against his girlfriend, Amy DeWeese. Prior to trial, the State moved to admit evidence,

pursuant

to

section

115-7.4

of

the

Code,

establishing

that

defendant committed a prior act of domestic violence against his ex-wife, Katie Bailey, five years earlier. A hearing was held, and Bailey testified that three months before she married defendant, he was drunk, hit her, called her names and threatened her. ruled that the State could present Bailey's The court at

testimony

defendant's trial. Defendant filed a pretrial motion, arguing that DeWeese was not competent illness. to testify because she suffered from a mental

The trial court ruled that DeWeese was competent to

testify but that defendant could cross-examine her regarding her mental health history. At defendant's trial, DeWeese testified that she dated

defendant for about three years before she moved in with him in February of 2008. She admitted that she has suffered from mental

health problems and has been diagnosed with delusional disorder, bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder. She said

that her mental condition did not interfere with her ability to testify truthfully. She testified that at about 10 p.m. on April 26, 2008, she went to the video store with defendant. she went to bed. When they returned home,

According to DeWeese, defendant drank an entire

case of beer that night. Between midnight and 1 a.m. 2 on Sunday, April 27, 2008,

defendant woke DeWeese up by sitting on her chest and putting his knees on her arms. He shouted at her, called her names, pulled her He then poured water in her He

hair and said he wanted to kill her.

face, grabbed her hair and dragged her into the bathroom.

pushed her head into the toilet, causing her to hit her head on the toilet rim. to him. After that, defendant calmed down, and DeWeese talked

The next morning, DeWeese and defendant went out to

breakfast and remained home until that evening when DeWeese went to visit her children at her ex-husband's house. The following day,

DeWeese went to work, school and then the police station. Brian Scudder, a police officer, testified that he interviewed DeWeese at about 8 p.m. on April 28, 2008. She told him that her

boyfriend "battered" her and threatened to kill her at 1 a.m. on Sunday morning. She said she could not report the incident sooner Scudder said

because defendant would not let her leave the house.

that DeWeese appeared "distraught, quite shaken up and nervous" and had a black eye and bruises on her arms. After receiving DeWeese's report, Scudder went to defendant's house. weekend. argument Defendant first stated that nothing happened over the When questioned further, he stated that he had an with DeWeese, during which she became "hysterical."

Defendant said he had to restrain DeWeese, which is probably why her arms were bruised. Katie Bailey testified that she married defendant in May of 3

2003 and divorced him in 2008.

She testified that in February of

2003, defendant became very drunk and repeatedly hit her with a belt. Bailey got away from defendant and drove to the police Defendant was arrested.

station.

Defendant admitted that he hit Bailey with a belt repeatedly in 2003, explaining that he was "really drunk" at the time. Defendant then testified about DeWeese, saying she had a history of mental problems and frequently talked to people who were not there. She believed that her doctors wanted to kill her and that someone implanted a device in her brain. delusional. According to defendant, he and DeWeese went to the video store between 9:30 and 10 p.m. on April 26, 2008. When they returned Defendant thought she was

home, DeWeese went to sleep, while defendant watched movies and drank about six beers. The next morning, DeWeese and defendant That evening, DeWeese When she came

went out for breakfast and then came home.

went to her ex-husband's house to see her children.

home, she was crying and told defendant that her ex-husband hit her. DeWeese went into her bedroom and did not come out the rest

of the night. The next day, defendant went to work as usual. Scudder came to his house at about 8 p.m. that night. Officer Defendant

told Scudder that he and DeWeese argued on Saturday night about money. He denied telling Scudder that he had to grab DeWeese to 4

calm her down. The jury found defendant guilty of domestic battery. trial court sentenced defendant to three years in prison. ANALYSIS Statutes are presumed constitutional. Ill. 2d 159, 177, 788 N.E.2d 707, 718 People v. Donoho, 204 (2003). The party The

challenging a statute's constitutionality carries the burden of establishing that the statute is unconstitutional. Ill. 2d at 177, 788 N.E.2d at 718. Donoho, 204

If reasonably possible, a court Donoho, 204 Ill. suspect class or

will affirm the constitutionality of a statute. 2d at 177, 788 N.E.2d at 719. Where no

fundamental right is involved, the court evaluates the statute using a rational basis test, under which we will uphold the statute if it has a rational relationship to a legitimate purpose and is neither arbitrary nor discriminatory. 788 N.E.2d at 719. In 2007, the Illinois General Assembly passed Public Act 95360 (Pub. Act 95-360, eff. August 23, 2007 (adding 725 ILCS 5/1157.4)), which created section 115-7.4 of the Code. The bill was Donoho, 204 Ill. 2d at 177,

"modeled on the current treatment of evidence in cases of criminal sexual assault" set forth in section 115-7.3 of the Code (725 ILCS 5/115-7.3 (West 2006)). 95th Ill. Gen. Assem., Senate Proceedings, May 28, 2007, at 47 (statements of Senator Harmon). as a tool for law enforcement 5 and victims It was created "domestic

because

violence is a recurring crime in the same way that sexual abuse and sexual assault is." 95th Ill. Gen. Assem., House Proceedings,

April 25, 2007, at 46 (statements of Representative Gordon). Several other states have enacted similar laws (see Alaska R. of Evid. 404(b)(4); Cal. Evid. Code

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