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People v. Thornton8/16/2002
UNPUBLISHED
Defendant Tyrone Thornton was charged, along with co-defendant Melvin Scott, with six counts of aggravated kidnaping, one count of forcible detention (720 ILCS 5/10-4(A)(West 1996)), three counts of aggravated battery (720 ILCS 5/12-4-(a), 12-4(b)(8), (West 1996)), one count of aggravated unlawful restraint (720 5/10-3.1(a)(West 1996)) and one count of unlawful restraint (720 ILCS 5/10-3)(West 1996)).
Following a jury trial, Thornton was convicted of two counts of aggravated kidnaping (720 ILCS 5/10-2(a)(1), (a)(3) (West 1996)). He was sentenced to 10 years in prison. On appeal, defendant asserts that his convictions must be reversed because (1) he was prejudiced when one of the jurors was interviewed in camera during jury deliberations; (2) his constitutional rights were violated when the court interviewed a juror regarding her health and this interview took place in the presence of only the State and defense counsel; and (3) the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions. For the following reasons, we affirm.
At trial, James Fullilove (the victim) testified that on August 30, 1997, at around 7 p.m. he was sitting in the backseat of a car parked in front of 6224 S. Vernon in Chicago, Illinois. At approximately 7:15 p.m., he saw co-defendant Scott pull up in his car and block the car in which he was sitting. Defendant Thornton then got out of Scott's car and opened the door of Fullilove's car and pulled Fullilove out of the car. After Fullilove was out of the car, Thornton started punching him in the face, and the victim and Thornton fought for about 5 or 10 minutes. The victim tried to run and defendant tripped him. Defendant then pulled the victim's overalls off and the victim was left wearing underwear, socks, and one shoe.
After that, co-defendant got out of his car, walked over, put the victim in a "full Nelson," and walked the victim through a gangway that led to an alley. As Scott was doing that, Thornton drove Scott's car around through the alley. Scott then forced the victim into the backseat of the car. Thornton then began to drive while the victim, Scott, and another man, named Hickey, were in the backseat. During the car ride, Hickey, held the victim's head down so that he could not see where he was going while Scott punched the victim and told him that he owed him money for drugs. Thornton stopped the car in front of an abandoned three-flat building on 48th and Michigan.
After the car stopped, Scott took the victim out of the car in a "full Nelson" and brought him up to the third-floor apartment of that abandoned building. Once inside, the victim saw six or seven other people in the apartment. Thornton then punched the victim in the face a couple of times and then the other men in the apartment started punching, kicking and beating the victim. The victim heard someone on the phone while he was still being beaten. Thornton and Scott were still in the apartment. After the phone call, Thornton and Scott left the apartment while the other men continued to beat the victim.
About 30 or 40 minutes after Scott brought the victim into the apartment, someone came inside and said the police had Scott outside. The other men then stopped beating the victim and brought him out into the hallway. One of the men then kicked the victim down three flights of stairs. When the victim landed at the bottom of the staircase, he got up and walked outside, where he saw Detectives Carlson and Golab.
The victim then saw Scott inside a police car and told the detectives that Scott was one of the men who kidnaped him. The detectives took the victim to the hospital where he remained until the next day. The victim's face
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