People v. Tedrick

SUPREME COURT CASES

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People v. Tedrick

State: Illinois

Court: 5th District Appellate

Docket No: 5-07-0182 Rel

Case Date: 12/28/2007

Preview:NO. 5-07-0182
NOTICE Decision filed 12/28/07. The text of this decision may be changed or corrected prior to the filing of a Peti tion for Rehearing or th e

IN THE APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS

FIFTH DISTRICT ________________________________________________________________________ THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, ) Appeal from the ) Circuit Court of Plaintiff-Appellee, ) Fayette County. ) v. ) No. 06-CF-108 ) RODNEY D. TEDRICK, ) Honorable ) Michael D. McHaney, Defendant-Appellant. ) Judge, presiding. ________________________________________________________________________ JUSTICE DONOVAN delivered the opinion of the court: Defendant, Rodney D. Tedrick, was convicted, after a bench trial in the circuit court of Fayette County, of domestic battery under section 12-3.2(a)(1) of the Criminal Code of 1961 (720 ILCS 5/12-3.2(a)(1) (West 2006)), and he was sentenced to five years' imprisonment. Defendant appeals, arguing he was denied a fair trial because he was shackled and dressed in an orange jail uniform at the trial. He further contends he is entitled to additional sentencing credit for time served in custody after his arrest on July 9, 2006. On July 9, 2006, the 16-year-old victim decided to drive to her grandmother's house. She encountered Jake and Zach, who were looking for her father, defendant. The victim drove them to Vandalia Lake, where she believed her father might be, arriving after 12 a.m. Defendant, who was fishing, was present at the lake site along with Matt, Tracy, another individual, and a two-year-old girl. Defendant had been drinking beer and appeared to be intoxicated. At some point, defendant began pushing the victim around in a playful manner until she told him to stop. For some unknown reason, defendant then took off his pants and began walking around half

disposition of the same.

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naked. The victim asked him several times to put his pants back on. Instead of doing so, defendant became angry and slapped the victim. She picked up the little girl and told Jake and Zach she wanted to leave. Defendant grabbed her, slapped her, and then took the child away from her. Matt came to her rescue, which caused defendant to start hitting Matt. The victim, in turn, tried to push defendant off Matt, but defendant turned around and struck her on the head with his fist. The victim testified that it "really hurt" when defendant hit her and that she cried profusely in response. Defendant punched Matt several more times while the victim was on the ground screaming for him to stop. She testified that defendant then kicked her while she was on the ground. The victim ran to her car and drove to her grandmother's place to call for help. Her aunt decided to call the police. When the responding officer arrived, he found Matt bleeding from his nose and mouth and defendant asleep in a camper, naked from the waist down. He asked defendant to get dressed and placed him under arrest. According to the officer, defendant appeared to be quite intoxicated and was making little sense. Defendant testified he had lost about 50 pounds when he was last in jail and on July 9 was wearing clothes that he had worn before he went to prison. Defendant had just been released from prison two days earlier. Defendant had helped Matt move some furniture earlier in the day before they went to the lake. Defendant had not seen his daughter earlier in the day and was upset that she had been out past curfew the night before. When the victim arrived at the lake site, he and she got into "a little bit of an argument." Defendant told her that if she could not mind him, she should go home to her mother's house. Defendant stated that she kept arguing and that he "pecked her on top of her head." Defendant claimed that she threw herself down on the ground in response and that she was not hurt. Defendant denied hitting her and stated he was just trying to "tell her to stop." Matt ran up and knocked him over a picnic table. When he got up, his pants had fallen off. Defendant responded to

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the attack by hitting Matt three or four times until he went down on the ground. He then picked up his pants and went into the trailer and fell asleep. He denied taking off his pants in front of the victim or that he smacked or kicked her. The court specifically found the testimony of the State's witnesses to be credible, as opposed to the testimony of defendant. The court noted that defendant admitted to being intoxicated at the time of the offense and later passing out and further admitted to making contact with the victim's head. The court also noted that at the trial defendant's

demonstration

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