The Decatur Daily Review from Decatur, Illinois • Page 31

ii LA UK KtV.uW Decatur, Illinois, Thursday, November 6, 1975 Unusual Evidence Use Backed entry or damage to the exterior doors during exit, though an inner door to an office from which cash had been stolen was broken. Such speculation is not normally admissible at trial, but at McLain's trial in June, 1974, Asst. State's Atty. Jon Baxter offered evidence that the lounge had been burglarized in a similar fashion in 1971, and that McLain had confessed that crime. The evidence was admitted that a hearing should have been held in his 1974 trial on his motion to suppress the confession he had given to the 1971 burglary.

Judge Scott had ruled the confession admissible on grounds McLain's guilty plea to the 1971 burglary constituted a waiver of objections to it. The earlier guilty plea, the Appellate Court said, does not deprive McLain of the right to challenge the voluntariness of the confession in a later by Judge Rodney A. Scott and on the basis of it the jury found McLain guilty. The 4- to 20-year prison sentence was subsequently imposed. McLain appealed to the Appellate Court, contending evidence of his prior burglary of the lounge should not have been admitted.

The Appellate Court caying the manner in which the second burglary was carried out was almost identical to the first. Decatur Cocktail Lounge on Feb. 17, 1974. The charge was based on the fact that McLain's checkbook and driver's license, along with other identification, were found in a storage loft of the lounge on the following day. Police hypothesized that McLain had entered the building as a customer, hidden in it until after closing, committed the burglary.

There had been no forcible trial. Accordingly, the Appellate Court ordered the Circ it Court here to hold a hearing to determine whether the 1971 confession was voluntarily given by McLain. If such a determination is made, the conviction and prison sentence will stand. If the 1971 confession is found to be involuntary, the local court should vacate the 1974 conviction and order a new trial, the Appellate Court directed. "Moreover," the court said, "it required a knowledge of the layout of the Decatur Cocktail Lounge, and the commission of the earlier crime was relevant in establishing such knowledge." Further, the court said, no hypothesis consistent with innocence can be found to explain the presence of McLain's identification in the lounge loft the day after the burglary.

The Appellate Court did, however, agree with McLain The use of unusual evidence to convict a Decatur man of a burglary charge in 1974 has been endorsed by the Fourth District Appellate Court in Springfield. The court, however, has ordered further proceedings in Circuit Court here before the 4- to 20-year prison term imposed on Terry McLain, 24, is final. McLain was charged in early 1974 with burglarizing the WHAT2 GQ0FY, mmmmmmmm 'si's? a Ll- iv jm lisk rV Nevco Special Purchase OS 21 Pc. Socket Set 38" Drive An Ideal Christmas Gift Nut Cracker OurReg.M.29 Timely For The Holidays Special Value Shop Mate y2" Reversible Columbian Enamelware Round Dutch Oven DRILL Reg.M.99VaI. Limited Quantity HOUSE WARMING SPECIALS -4 Vinyl I VSStfJ1' Foam 1 Foam JnZuU r-oam lit- A I I Kill ill II Jl Tape 138" 14" 17 R.

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