People v. Ramsey (239 Ill. 2d 342, 2010)

JUSTICE GARMAN

delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.

Chief Justice Fitzgerald and Justices Freeman, Thomas, Kilbride, Karmeier, and Burke concurred in the judgment and opinion.

OPINION

After a jury trial in the circuit court of Hancock County, defendant, Daniel Ramsey, was convicted of two counts of first degree murder (720 ILCS 5/9 — 1(a) (West 1996)), three counts of attempted murder (720 ILCS 5/8—4(a), 9—1(a) (West 1996)), and one count each of aggravated criminal sexual assault (720 ILCS 5/12 — 14(a) (West 1996)), home invasion (720 ILCS 5/12 — 11(a) (West 1996)), and residential burglary (720 ILCS 5/19 — 3(a) (West 1996)), and sentenced to death and several terms of imprisonment. His convictions were reversed by this court. People v. Ramsey, 192 Ill. 2d 154 (2000). He subsequently pleaded guilty to the intentional and felony murders of two victims, the attempted murders of three victims, aggravated criminal sexual assault, and home invasion. A jury found him eligible for the death penalty and determined that he should be sentenced to death. The trial court sentenced him to death and imposed prison sentences totaling 60 years on the other convictions. His appeal lies directly to this court under Supreme Court Rule 603 (134 Ill. 2d R. 603). For the reasons set forth below, we affirm his conviction and sentence.

BACKGROUND

On July 9, 1996, Daniel Ramsey, then 18 years old, was taken into custody at the Sloop residence in rural Hancock County. He gave the police an account of the events of the previous evening, in which he admitted killing two young women and shooting two children and his former girlfriend, intending to kill them.

Defendant’s Statement

According to defendant, 17-year-old Rachel Sloop had recently broken up with him. They had agreed to remain friends and he was still welcome at the Sloop home. He had called Rachel almost every day since the breakup. On the afternoon of July 8, defendant was visiting the Sloop home. Rachel’s mother told Rachel that it was time for defendant to leave because she did not have enough food to invite him to stay for dinner. He remained for a while longer and then went home.

Later that evening, another girl, Michelle Haist, told defendant that Rachel never truly liked him and that she had been using him because he gave her presents. Upset by her comments, defendant took a .22-caliber pistol from the trunk of his car and placed it underneath the front seat. He drove from his home in Keokuk, Iowa, to the home of another friend, L.M., in Basco, Illinois.

At about 11 p.m., defendant and L.M. went for a drive. L.M. told her mother that she would be home in about half an hour. They talked about Rachel and the breakup and began to argue. He called her a “bitch” and she slapped him. He struck her with his fist and then stopped the car near a grain bin. She slapped him again and he pulled the car closer to the grain bin. She got out of the car and came around to the driver’s side. Then he got out of the car and they continued to fight, shoving each other, until L.M. got back into the car on the passenger side. Defendant then pinned L.M. down on the front seat of the car and ripped at her clothing. She told him several times to “stop” and to “quit it,” but he sexually penetrated her anyway and ejaculated.

When he finished, L.M. told him that he was no longer her friend and that she would tell what he had done. He took a roll of duct tape from the trunk of his car and wrapped tape around her head, including her eyes, and around her arms, her wrists, and her hands. After she tried to run away, he also taped her lower legs. He lifted her over his shoulder and walked to a nearby empty grain bin and placed her inside, where he told her to stay.

Defendant went back to his car, retrieved the pistol, and returned to the grain bin. He shot her twice. Then he got into his car and left. He later told police that he shot L.M. because she said she would get him into trouble. She died as a result of her wounds.

Defendant told police that he decided at this point that he wanted to commit suicide and that he wanted Rachel to see him do it. He drove for a while, thinking of a way to get Rachel’s mother, Barbara Sloop, and a house-guest, Kim Haist, out of the house. At about 11:30 p.m., he called the Sloop residence from a pay telephone at a gas station in Carthage, Illinois, and told Barbara that she and Kim were needed at Kim’s apartment in Carthage, because Kim’s ex-fiancé, Terry Hamelton, had ransacked her apartment there.

He then sped to the Sloop home. He turned the lights off in his car and waited until he saw the adults leave. Once he was sure that Barbara and Kim were gone, he parked his car on the side of the road beyond the Sloop home and walked through a cornfield to the home, carrying wire cutters, a flashlight, and his pistol. He looked in the windows and saw that Rachel and her 12-year-old sister, Lonna, were in the living room watching television. To ensure that Barbara could not telephone the girls from her cell phone once she discovered the ruse, he cut the telephone line to the house. He entered the house through the unlocked back door.

He approached Rachel quietly, startling her by touching her. They went into the dining room and talked for a while as she sat at the table with her back to him. According to defendant, he had not planned to shoot her, but she said something that set him off and he pulled out the gun and shot her in the back of the neck. He could not recall what she said to upset him.

Lonna, who was in the living room lying on the sofa, began screaming, so he shot her twice. Kim’s two children, Cody Hamelton, age 3, and Courtnie Hamelton, age 2, were sleeping upstairs. When defendant heard them crying, he went upstairs and shot both children. (An autopsy revealed a nonfatal wound to Lonna’s neck and a fatal wound to the top of her head. The children survived, with serious permanent injuries.)

Defendant told police that he then tried to shoot himself in the head with his pistol, but that it misfired. He knew that there was a shotgun in the house, which he retrieved and again tried to kill himself. The shotgun slipped as he fired, causing a superficial wound to the back of his head, but he believed that he was dying.

When he came back downstairs, he found Rachel on the floor, slipping in and out of consciousness. He lay down on the floor next to her and fell asleep. He awoke when she got up to go to the bathroom. She walked out of the house and he followed. The police, who by this time had been called to the house by Barbara Sloop, were outside and took him into custody. He led them to L.M.’s body and later waived his Miranda rights and made the statement summarized above, which was videotaped.

Procedural History

Following a jury trial in which he raised the defense of insanity, defendant was convicted of the murders of L.M. and Lonna Sloop and other felonies. The jury found him eligible for the death penalty based on the cold, calculated, and premeditated manner in which the crimes were committed. 720 ILCS 5/9 — l(b)(ll) (West 1996). After a hearing, the jury found no mitigating factors sufficient to preclude imposition of the death penalty. The trial court sentenced defendant to death for the murders and to terms of imprisonment for the other crimes. This court reversed defendant’s convictions and remanded for a new trial. Ramsey, 192 Ill. 2d at 158-59.

Pretrial proceedings concluded in April 2007 with the selection of a jury. Shortly thereafter, the parties advised the court that a plea agreement had been reached under which defendant would plead guilty to the murders of L.M. and Lonna Sloop, the attempted murders of Rachel Sloop, Cody Hamelton, and Courtnie Hamelton, the aggravated criminal sexual assault of L.M., and home invasion. The State agreed to dismiss four other counts. The trial court admonished defendant regarding the effect of a guilty plea and of the rights he was relinquishing. The court also determined that the plea was voluntary and was not the result of threats or promises.

The matter proceeded to a capital sentencing hearing before the jury.

Capital Sentencing Hearing — Eligibility Phase

At the eligibility phase, the State introduced a copy of defendant’s birth certificate, showing his date of birth as March 30, 1978. The State also offered a certified copy of five judgments of guilt based on defendant’s guilty pleas.

L.M.’s mother testified that her daughter and defendant had been “platonic” friends who talked daily on the phone. He often visited the Marson home to watch movies with L.M. She allowed L.M. to go for a drive with defendant at approximately 11 p.m. on the evening of July 8, 1996, and expected her daughter to be home in half an hour. When she was not home by 3 a.m., she called the police.

Crime scene investigator Steve Zuber of the Illinois State Police described the grain bin where L.M.’s body was found as being in a field of fairly mature corn, “about a hundred feet” off the road and “surrounded with fairly dense vegetation.” There was a path leading from the road to the empty bin, but it was also covered with vegetation. Some of the vegetation was “crushed-down” as if a vehicle had recently driven on it. There were tire tracks and shoe prints in the dirt behind the grain bin, where the vegetation was less dense. He took photographs of the tire tracks and shoe prints. Zuber identified several distinctive aspects of the shoe prints that identified the shoes as Nike brand shoes.

Zuber further testified that he found the body of L.M. inside the grain bin, with her head “wrapped almost completely in duct tape from her eyebrows down to her chin with no openings left for her eyes, ears, nose, or mouth.” Her arms and wrists and lower legs were also bound with duct tape. Her shorts were torn and there appeared to be blood on her underwear. Her fingers were also bloody. Zuber identified a photograph of the soles of L.M.’s shoes and noted that no footprints matching her shoes had been seen in the area of the grain bin.

Barbara Sloop testified regarding the dating relationship between defendant and Rachel and Rachel’s decision to end it because she felt defendant was “smothering” her with his constant attention. While the young couple was dating, defendant visited the Sloop home every day and spent some weekends there. After the breakup, he continued to be a regular visitor and to call Rachel almost every day. When she returned home after work on the evening of July 8, 1996, defendant was there. Kim Haist, a family friend, was also there. She had been staying in the Sloop home with her two small children because an ex-boyfriend had recently set fire to her car. Barbara and Kim discussed the security of the Sloop home and defendant interjected that “if anybody wanted in your home, whether your doors were locked or not, they would get in.” Shortly thereafter, Barbara told defendant that dinner was almost ready and that he could not stay because she did not have enough food for everyone. He did not leave right away, but did eventually leave.

Barbara said that she was asleep on the couch in the living room when the telephone rang at about 11:30 p.m. She recognized defendant’s voice. He told her that Kim’s former boyfriend had ransacked her apartment and was going to pour gasoline on it and set it on fire. He told her to get Kim and come directly to her apartment in Carthage and not to go to the police station. She woke Kim and then Rachel, so that Rachel could listen for the children in case they woke up. When she and Kim arrived at Kim’s apartment, neither defendant nor the police were there and nothing was amiss. She called home and got a busy signal, so she drove to the sheriffs office.

Thomas Merchie, a crime scene investigator with the Illinois State Police, testified that he photographed a brown or tan Ford bearing Iowa license plates that was parked east of the Sloop residence on a gravel road leading into a field. The car was separated from the house by a corn field and a bean field. He measured the distance at approximately 417 feet from the car to the house. Merchie observed a police radio sitting in the front seat of defendant’s car. The radio was turned on and he could hear police radio frequency traffic. After arranging for the car to be towed for later processing, Merchie went to the Sloop home to process the scene there.

In the living room, he found the body of a young woman on the couch. She was partially covered with an afghan and her head was on a pillow. She had been shot in the right side of the neck, with the bullet traveling through the pillow. She had a second gunshot wound to the top of her head.

In an upstairs bedroom, Merchie found a shotgun on the floor near an empty gun case and a .22-caliber handgun. Outside the residence, he found three telephone wires that had been cut. He also found a blue-handled “side cutter,” or wire cutter, in the grass outside the house. He found no signs of forced entry into the house.

After being accepted as an expert witness without objection by the defense, Dr. Travis Hindman testified regarding the autopsy he performed on L.M. He described the duct tape that was wrapped “very tightly” from her forehead to her chin. Her arms were taped to her chest and her legs were taped together. She had abrasions on the fingers of both hands. Her shorts were torn and stained. He found bruising and tearing in the vaginal area, compatible with a sexual assault. Hindman recovered bullet fragments from a gunshot wound to the back of her head. The cause of death was severe brain trauma due to the gunshot wound, with a possible contributory cause of asphyxia due to her face having been covered with duct tape. Other physical findings demonstrated that L.M. was alive when she was shot. Had she not been shot, she eventually would have suffocated.

Hindman also testified regarding the autopsy of Lonna Sloop. She had one gunshot wound to the side of her neck and one to the top of her head. The bullet penetrated a pillow before entering her neck, pulling some of the pillow filling with it. The wound was about one-inch deep and when the pillow fabric rebounded, it pulled the filling and the bullet with it. As a result, the neck wound was survivable. The second wound was fatal.

The State’s final witness in the eligibility phase was Rachel Sloop White, now age 28. She testified that she began dating defendant in March 1996, when she was 17 years old. During the several months that they dated, he came to her house “every day” and stayed “all day.” She decided to end the dating relationship in late June 1996 because he was too possessive and she felt that she had no “space” of her own. After she ended the dating relationship, he continued to visit the Sloop home every day and they remained friends.

She explained that Kim’s brother, Terry Haist, was engaged to Amy Sloop, Rachel’s older sister. Kim and her two children were staying with the Sloops because she suspected the children’s father, Terry Hamelton, of setting fire to her car the previous weekend. On the afternoon of July 8, 1996, defendant was visiting the Sloop home and the fire was discussed.

At about 11:20 p.m. that night, Rachel’s mother woke her up, explaining that she and Kim had to leave the house. Rachel was afraid to be the oldest person in the house with only her 12-year-old sister, Lonna, and two small children. She woke Lonna and asked her to accompany her downstairs so she would not be alone. Lonna lay on the couch and fell asleep while Rachel sat in a recliner, watching television.

She looked up and saw defendant coming through the dining room toward her. When she asked what he was doing there, he replied that her mother knew he was there and that it was “okay” for him to be in the house. He asked her to come into the dining room to talk to him and she complied. Toward the end of that discussion, he asked Rachel if she would resume dating him.

At this point in her testimony, the State rested its case on eligibility. The defense presented no evidence at this stage of the proceedings. Closing arguments were made and the jury was instructed.

The State noted that defendant was 18 years old and that he had pleaded guilty to first degree murder. In addition, the State argued that it had proven the existence of three eligibility factors beyond a reasonable doubt: (1) defendant was convicted of murdering two individuals and their deaths were the result of his intent to kill (720 ILCS 5/9 — 1(b)(3) (West 1996)); (2) defendant killed L.M. in the course of another felony, aggravated criminal sexual assault (720 ILCS 5/9 — 1(b)(6) (West 1996)); and (3) both murders were committed in a “cold, calculated and premeditated manner pursuant to a preconceived plan, scheme or design to take a human life by unlawful means, and the conduct of the defendant created a reasonable expectation that the death of a human being would result therefrom” (720 ILCS 5/9 — l(b)(ll) (West 1996)).

In support of the third factor, the State argued that the murder of L.M. was cold, calculated, and premeditated, as shown by the fact that the defendant brought a gun and duct tape when he went to Marson’s house and that he drove only 1.6 miles from the Mar son home before leaving the road to park behind a grain bin that was surrounded by dense vegetation, where he raped her, bound her with duct tape, placed her inside the grain bin, and shot her.

Similarly, the State argued, the murder of Lonna Sloop was cold, calculated, and premeditated. Defendant lied to Barbara Sloop to get the adults to leave Rachel, Lonna, and two small children alone in the house, using information about who was in the home that he obtained in an earlier visit that day. He sped to the Sloop home and parked off the road with his headlights off, so that he could see the adults leave. Then he parked his car where it could not be seen from the house, cut through a cornfield to reach the house, and cut the telephone lines. After gaining access to the house, he shot Lonna in the top of the head as she lay on the living room couch.

Defense counsel emphasized that defendant, after receiving Miranda warnings and knowing that he did not have to speak, cooperated with the police. He gave a full statement and took responsibility for his actions at that time and later when he pleaded guilty. If he had premeditated killing L.M., counsel argued, he would not have spent half an hour visiting with her in her home before taking her out that night. Counsel also noted that defendant did not try to disguise his voice when he called the Sloop home. Thus, counsel suggested, because he did not try to conceal his identity from his victims’ mothers, he did not premeditate the murders.

The jury found, unanimously, that each of the three aggravating factors existed.

Capital Sentencing Hearing — Evidence in Aggravation

After opening statements by both sides, Rachel Sloop White resumed the stand as the State’s first witness in the second stage of the capital sentencing hearing. She testified that she was introduced to defendant by a mutual friend, L.M., at the Keokuk, Iowa, YMCA. Eventually, they began dating and she attended prom with him in March 1996. She broke up with him later that spring by giving him a letter that she had written. She wanted to continue to be his friend.

On the afternoon of July 8, 1996, defendant was visiting her house. Rachel, Lonna, Kim, and defendant talked about the incident in which Kim’s car caught fire. There had also been a fire in defendant’s car. They all suspected Terry Hamelton of setting the fires.

At some point in the afternoon, defendant drove Kim into town to run errands “to do with the fire” and then brought her back to the house. Rachel’s mother returned from work about 4:30 p.m. and began cooking dinner. She told Rachel that it was time for defendant to leave because there was not enough food for him to eat with them that evening. After Rachel told defendant to leave he “moved at a slow pace,” and when he did finally leave, called her a “bitch.”

She was asleep later that night in her second-floor bedroom when her mother woke her, explaining that she had received a telephone call from defendant telling her that she and Kim were needed in town at Kim’s apartment because Terry Hamelton was ransacking it.

Rachel and Lonna were in the living room watching television when she heard someone in the dining room. She saw defendant coming toward her. Defendant asked to talk to her in the dining room.

They sat at the table, smoking cigarettes and talking. When he asked her if she would resume dating him, she tried to change the subject, saying that she needed to bring the dogs inside. She went to the front door to let the dogs in and defendant accompanied her. Then they went back to sit at the dining room table. From her seat at the table, she could see out the window and she saw the headlights of a car coming down the road toward the house. When she told defendant that a car was approaching the house, he shot her in the head, just above and behind her right ear. Before she “fell over,” she heard her sister, Lonna, say, “Don’t shoot me.”

Rachel remained seated, with her head resting on the table, as she slipped in and out of consciousness. At some point, defendant returned to the room. He was bleeding and he let his blood “just go all over” her. Then he asked her to lie down on the floor next to him. She used a chair cushion as a pillow and lay down on the floor, covering herself with a blanket. He kept touching her, asking her if she was still alive. She responded, “Stop touching me before I die.” She asked defendant if he had shot anyone else and he told her that he thought he had killed her sister, but he denied having shot the two children.

Eventually, she told defendant that she had to go to the bathroom. He initially refused to let her leave, but she told him that she would leave the bathroom door open. When she came out of the bathroom, she did not see defendant, so she opened the front door and walked outside where the police were waiting. (Later testimony by a state trooper established that it was approximately 5:52 a.m. on July 9, 1996, when Rachel exited the house, followed shortly thereafter by defendant, who surrendered to the police.)

Michelle Haist, the younger sister of Kim and Terry Haist, testified that she knew defendant because he was dating Rachel, whose sister, Amy, was engaged to Michelle’s brother, Terry. Defendant “was always around.” In 1996, Michelle was living with Kim in Carthage, Illinois.

On July 3, 1996, Michelle had been at Kim’s apartment when Terry Hamelton came by and told her that he wanted to see the children, Cody and Courtnie. Kim had not been home at the time. Later that night, Michelle was awakened by flashing lights. Kim’s car was on fire and the flames were “starting to come in the window.”

On several subsequent evenings, defendant spent the night at Kim’s apartment, along with Michelle, her boyfriend, and Earn and the children. Everyone was on edge. The night of July 6, defendant “kept going in and out,” then he ran into the apartment saying his car was on fire. When she went out to look, she saw several newspapers in the backseat that had been set on fire. The flames had gone out on their own and it was not necessary to call the fire department.

Michelle also testified that she was at the Sloop home on the afternoon of July 8, 1996. She noted that defendant and Rachel “were having some kind of argument.” She accepted a ride back to Keokuk from defendant. Rachel was yelling after him as they pulled out of the driveway. Defendant said that he felt like pulling “in front of a semi right now.” She told him that it was “stupid” to kill himself over “some girl” and that he just needed to move on. He would not accept that Rachel did not want to be with him.

Defendant dropped Michelle at a friend’s house and then left for a bit, saying that he had to go to his house “to do something.” Later, he returned and offered Michelle a ride to her home. She said she was not ready to go, so he stayed. Then he left a second time and came back, again offering to take her home. She told him she intended to stay there for the night. He “stayed there for a while and then he eventually left.” Michelle was “annoyed because he just kept repeating it over and over and kept asking [her] to go ***. He just persistently kept asking me over and over.”

Terry Haist testified that he was living at the Sloop home with his fiancée, Amy Sloop, in 1996. He knew defendant as Rachel’s boyfriend. Terry had a 20-gauge single-shot shotgun that he kept under the bed in Amy’s upstairs bedroom.

He also testified regarding the relationship at that time between his sister, Kim, and her former boyfriend, Terry Hamelton. There was some “squabbling” between Kim and Terry Hamelton over the children. Terry Hamelton resented Terry Haist because he was “more or less like a father figure to the kids.” Hamelton had made comments about coming for Haist and wanting “a piece” of him. Terry Haist was told by defendant that Hamelton had been taking target practice, making Haist believe that Hamelton was going to come looking for him. Every time defendant was at the house, he would make comments to Haist about “what Terry Hamelton was doing.”

On the afternoon of July 8, 1996, Haist was at the Sloop house while Barbara Sloop was cooking dinner. Everyone, including defendant, was talking “about how everybody was scared about all the events that were going on. And Amy wanted her mom to lock all the doors.” Defendant said that if someone really wanted to get into the house, they could just come in through the window, pointing at the window in the dining room.

On the evening of July 8, 1996, Haist and Amy did not stay at the Sloop home because Amy was afraid that Hamelton “was going to show up and try to do something.” They went into town to stay with his grandmother. He left the shotgun in the bedroom, sticking out from under the bed so that he could have easy access to it. The shotgun was not loaded.

Haist further testified that he had shot the shotgun with defendant on at least five occasions. They shot birds and took target practice. Once, defendant brought his own shotgun shells so that he could take target practice while Haist was gone.

Kim Haist’s previous sworn testimony was read into the record by another person. She had testified at the first trial that on July 8, 1996, defendant drove her and her two small children from their apartment in Carthage to the Sloop home. Her car had been set on fire at her home several days before and she suspected that Terry Hamelton, the children’s father, was responsible. She knew defendant through the Sloop family and he had stayed at her apartment for several nights to protect her and her children.

After they dropped the children at the Sloop home and arranged for Lonna to watch them, defendant took Kim to run several errands in town. They returned to the Sloop home at about 4 p.m. and visited for a while. When they discussed the recent fire, the discussion turned to the need to lock the doors when everyone went to bed that night. Defendant said that it would not matter if the doors were locked, because someone who wanted inside could come through the windows.

When it was time for defendant to leave, he offered to drive Kim’s younger sister, Michelle, to her boyfriend’s house in Keokuk, Iowa. Michelle and defendant left the Sloop home together. Terry Haist and Amy Sloop also left for the night because Amy did not feel safe. Then Kim and Barbara Sloop went back to Carthage to retrieve clothing and toys for the children, returning at about 10 p.m. After they watched the television news, everyone went to bed. Barbara woke her at 11:30 p.m., to tell her that defendant had phoned to say that they needed to go to her apartment in Carthage because Terry Hamelton had been arrested while ransacking her apartment and that the police needed to speak to her. When they arrived, they saw no lights and no vehicles. They went to the police station and Barbara attempted to call home. When there was no answer, a county sheriffs deputy was sent to the Sloop home. At the request of the police, they remained at the police station until 6:30 a.m. the following morning. The next time she saw her children was in the trauma unit of the local hospital, before they were airlifted to Peoria for treatment.

Police Captain Kevin Church of Keokuk, Iowa, testified that when he was a patrol officer in 1992, he investigated a report of a young man who approached the manager of a cemetery, asking alarming questions about security there. He had shown her a police badge and stated that he was doing security work for the police department. Church identified defendant as that young man. Church and another officer went to the Ramsey home, spoke to defendant’s father, and searched defendant’s bedroom, where they found a police badge. Defendant’s father told Church that he had found some stolen items in the attic of his garage and had discarded them. He gave the officers permission to search the garage and they found a 9-millimeter handgun. Church asked that defendant be brought to the police station, where he was given Miranda warnings and made a statement, admitting that he had gone to the cemetery and spoken to the manager. He also admitted stealing the handgun from a neighbor’s home. Church also testified that he had arrested defendant on more than one occasion prior to this incident.

Amy Mitchell Briggs testified that in 1993 she had been the girlfriend of Shane Mullenburg. She knew defendant from school and from seeing him around town. On October 11, 1993, she and Shane left his house to go out for the evening. She had forgotten something, so they returned to the house where they found defendant and another young man whom she identified as Dustin Wade. One of them was holding a VCR. They went out through the front door and she chased them. She could not recall if Shane owned a gun at that time.

Barbara Sloop returned to the stand to read a victim impact statement regarding the death of her daughter, Lonna.

Thomas Crew, chief of police for the City of Keokuk, Iowa, was the next witness for the State. In 1993, when he was a criminal investigator, he investigated the burglary of Shane Mullenburg’s home. The police could not locate defendant, but they did speak to Dustin Wade, who explained that the burglary was defendant’s idea and that defendant was looking for a gun. He said that when they were interrupted by Briggs’s return, the gun was left on a bed.

Crew also testified that he was familiar with defendant, who was a “common figure” in the community and who frequented the fire department and police department on a regular basis. He was “always there” and was fascinated with anything having to do with radio equipment or emergency services.

In 1994, Crew was part of a task force that was conducting undercover narcotic operations. The members of the task force used radios to communicate during surveillance. At one point, Crew was sent to do a “buy bust” at a local hotel. As he was driving an unmarked car to the hotel, he saw defendant on the street talking to a relative of the target of the operation. As Crew drove by, defendant pointed him out to the person to whom he was speaking.

That individual later complained to the police department that he and his family were being surveilled by the police. An investigation revealed that defendant had recorded task force radio transmissions. Upon learning that the task force’s radio frequencies had been compromised, Crew obtained a search warrant for defendant’s school locker and his residence. In his bedroom, police found a Rolodex file containing information regarding police officers and their families, including home addresses and names of their children and spouses. The file contained similar information regarding firefighters and emergency management personnel. Defendant was charged with interference with official acts.

Dr. Christopher Hefner testified as an expert witness. He testified that he treated Rachel Sloop for a gunshot wound to the head. The bullet struck and entered the first cervical vertebra and both the bullet and the bone were fragmented. There was no exit wound. The injury resulted in complete occlusion of the right vertebral artery, which supplies the back part of the brain. Although Rachel was able to speak and her vision and facial functions were normal, this injury presented a risk of a devastating stroke due to formation of a blood clot. Dr. Hefner elected to use blood thinners to treat the clot, rather than surgery, because of the risks involved in surgery. Rachel’s injury was potentially life-threatening.

Retired Illinois State Police officer Stuart Erlenbush testified that he had been present on the morning of July 9, 1996, when defendant was taken into custody. He observed what appeared to be a superficial gunshot wound to the back of his head. There was some blood, but no sign of a puncture wound. The wound was treated by applying gauze with tape.

Dan Law of the Illinois State Police testified over a continuing objection by the defense to any mention of the attempted murders of Cody and Courtnie Hamelton. Law stated that he responded to the Sloop home on the night of July 8, 1996, as a member of the tactical response team. After donning protective gear, the team approached the house from the rear. As they did so, two individuals exited through the front door. The team then entered the house. Law went to the second floor and entered a bedroom in which he found a small boy, lying on the floor with a blanket and pillow covering his face. Law removed the blanket and pillow and then began removing his equipment so that he would not alarm the boy. He did not initially observe any injuries, but saw the child’s skin turn an ashy color. His condition seemed to be deteriorating. When medical personnel arrived and moved the boy, Law observed a wound in his back. While he was tending to the boy, Law heard a gasp from the corner of the room. He looked over to see a small girl lying on the floor. One of her eyes was “bulged out enormously” and there was dried blood on her face. When the EMT tried to insert an IV in the girl’s arm, she began screaming. Once the boy was removed on a backboard, Law carried the girl to the waiting ambulance. Law returned to the house through the front door and observed the body of another girl lying on the couch.

Illinois State Police master sergeant Bruce Liebe also testified over a defense objection regarding the discovery of the injured children in the upstairs bedroom. Liebe stated that he saw the two children lying on the floor. The girl was face down and he initially thought she was dead. The boy was lying on his back, with a pool of blood around his head. He was obviously frightened. Liebe got down on the floor and began removing his mask, goggles, and other equipment. The boy calmed down. He was alert and responded with eye movements, but he did not speak. At this point Law realized that the girl was still breathing. He observed what appeared to be a gunshot wound to her right eye. Initially, he could not tell whether it was an entrance wound or an exit wound. Later, he discovered an entry wound to the back of her head. The girl seemed to be unconscious, but reacted when paramedics attempted to insert an IV Then the boy became unresponsive and his color turned ashen. He appeared to be going into shock. When the boy was being moved to a board, Liebe observed a bullet wound in his “upper shoulder area alongside of his spine.” Both children were then removed to waiting emergency responders.

Dr. William Hanigan, a neurosurgeon, testified as an expert witness regarding his treatment of Cody and Courtnie Hamelton. When he first saw Courtnie in the emergency room, she was semicomatose. A CT scan of her head showed bone and bullet fragments along the right side of her temporal lobe to the right eye, along with a blood clot. He performed surgery to remove the fragments and injured brain tissue. Courtnie’s right eye was “destroyed.”

Hanigan saw Cody Hamelton for the first time the following day. The bullet wound through his shoulder damaged his esophagus, which required surgery to repair. He later developed a bacterial infection at this site. The bullet also fractured cervical vertebrae and injury to his right brachial plexus, which supplies nerves to the arm. Cody was not able to move his right arm and was barely moving his right leg. A second surgery was required to remove dead tissue in the shoulder. During this procedure, the doctor performed a spinal tap, which revealed meningitis.

Captain Tim Becker of the Illinois State Police testified that he had been a trooper in 1996 and that he was the individual who placed defendant in handcuffs after he exited the Sloop home. He observed that defendant had blood on his hair, face, and clothing. Another trooper read defendant the Miranda warning. Defendant acknowledged that he understood his rights. He was “shivering; shaking violently; crying; saying he was sorry.” On cross-examination, Becker acknowledged that defendant shed tears and that he said he was sorry more times than Becker could count.

Ron Wood testified that he was a juvenile court officer in Keokuk, Iowa, and that he had held that position since 1985. He first encountered defendant in 1992, when he was charged with fourth degree theft for stealing a gun. He was adjudicated delinquent, placed on probation, and ordered to comply with certain conditions including attending school, making restitution, performing community service, and obtaining counseling.

Wood next encountered defendant in 1993 after he was charged with fourth degree theft, assault, fifth degree theft, assault doing bodily injury, and third degree burglary. The charges stemmed from five separate incidents. Wood recommended that defendant be placed in detention. After a hearing, he was ordered placed in detention in the juvenile facility at Montrose, Iowa.

Defendant later admitted the delinquent acts of theft and assault. The court placed custody of defendant with his parents and sister for the purpose of placing him in an “appropriate structured residential facility,” which Wood described as “group care.” He went to a home in Davenport, Iowa, where he attended school and obtained family and individual counseling. He remained there from November 1993 to August 1994, when he was released by consent of all parties, including the State’s Attorney. He remained on probation.

In December 1994, while still on probation, defendant was charged with interference with official acts and harassment of a public official. After a hearing, his probation was revoked and he was placed at the State Training School for boys at Eldora, Iowa, which is the state’s juvenile prison.

On cross-examination, Wood acknowledged that defendant admitted guilt each time he was accused of a crime. In addition, a psychiatrist at the State Training School prepared a report, which was submitted to Wood, in which he diagnosed defendant with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and recommended that he be referred to a mental health center for treatment with medication. Wood agreed with his recommendation that defendant be placed in a highly structured group home upon his release from Eldora. This recommendation, however, was rejected by the committee responsible for such decisions and the defendant was instead sent home “with services.”

Wood was also questioned on cross-examination about the circumstances of the December 1994 charges. Defendant entered an electronics store in Davenport, Iowa, and claimed to be a member of the West Point fire department. He attempted to buy the type of radio used by the department. The clerk became suspicious and refused to make the sale. The clerk took down the license plate number of defendant’s car and reported the incident to the sheriff.

Wood’s cross-examination was also used to admit defendant’s discharge summary from Eldora, which indicated that he had been a productive student, taking a vocational course in residential wiring, that he had completed his GED requirements, and that he was enrolled in a computer literacy program.

On redirect, Wood testified that defendant served multiple in-school suspensions during his eighth-grade year, 1991-1992, for offenses such as hitting, kicking, and pushing other students and possession of keys to the school building. Except for a B in physical education, his final grades were Ds and Fs. In 1992, when Wood first dealt with defendant, he had not previously been charged with any crime. However, he told Wood that he had been involved in numerous thefts in the Keokuk area. The records provided to Wood revealed that prior to the incident involving the cemetery and the theft of the gun, defendant was seen by a clinical psychologist who diagnosed him as having oppositional defiant disorder. In addition, the doctor who diagnosed the ADHD condition found “no evidence for any serious mental disorder which would impair [his] ability to be responsible for his behaviors.” Records from defendant’s stay at the group home in Davenport showed that he had a “superficial commitment” to the program there and that he “demonstrate[d] a false commitment to the program.” He denied and minimized the conduct that resulted in his placement there and did not accept responsibility for his actions. Further, he interacted with his peers in a “domineering and superior manner.” He also had an “unrealistic concept of boundaries between himself and authority figures.” Wood read and relied on these reports and records to make his recommendation regarding placement of defendant.

In 1994, after the incident in which defendant interfered with the work of the drug task force, a search warrant was executed on his locker at school. The search disclosed a confidential list with unlisted telephone numbers at the school. Based on his possession of this list and his excessive absenteeism, he was suspended from high school. Defendant’s father thereafter contacted Wood to tell him about the suspension and to report that defendant was not following his curfew. His father was concerned with recent outbursts of defendant’s temper and feared that he might physically hurt his mother. Wood’s testimony also revealed that defendant’s parents were, in fact, his biological grandparents who had adopted him as an infant.

Dr. James E. Coeur was unavailable to testify. His testimony from defendant’s first trial was read into the record. Dr. Coeur testified that he treated defendant on July 9, 1996, for a superficial wound to the back of the scalp. An X-ray revealed no damage to the skull. The wound was a “groove” in the soft tissue of the scalp, about 4V2 inches long and half an inch wide. He used a local anesthetic and sutured the wound. Defendant was calm and cooperative.

The videotape of the statement defendant made to the police on the morning of July 9, 1996, was admitted into evidence via the testimony of William Pententler of the Illinois State Police, who was present during the interview. The tape was played for the jury. Its contents are summarized above.

The State’s case in aggravation closed with the testimony of Suzanne Marson, who read a victim impact statement regarding the death of her daughter, L.M.

Capital Sentencing Hearing — Evidence in Mitigation

Mark Cunningham, a clinical and forensic psychologist, testified as an expert witness that he is familiar with scholarly research regarding the likelihood that a capital defendant will commit serious violence while in prison. He authored a number of articles on this topic, for which he received several awards. Cunningham interviewed defendant for 1 hour and 40 minutes in August 2006. He also interviewed two corrections officers from facilities in which defendant had been confined regarding their observations of him, and he reviewed defendant’s records from these facilities. In addition, Cunningham utilized statistical and demographic information regarding inmates who commit crimes while in prison.

Cunningham opined that there is a “very low likelihood that Dan Ramsey would commit an act of serious violence or seriously injury somebody while confined for life.” This conclusion was based on defendant’s age (29 at the time of his evaluation), the appraisal of correctional staff, the fact that he holds a GED certificate, and the fact that he has regular visitation with his family. In addition, “in his interpersonal style, he is significantly detached from inmate interactions.” Cunningham also noted that defendant had no disciplinary tickets for threats, fights, or assaults while in prison. Cunningham further noted that the data shows that severity of the offense that sent an individual to prison is not a predictor of violence while in prison. He also testified regarding the conditions in Illinois prisons for individuals serving life sentences without the possibility of parole.

Jana Huele testified that she is defendant’s biological mother and his adoptive sister. She was 16 years old when defendant was born. Her two older sisters and older brother had left home by this time, so she was the only child living at home with her parents. She concealed her pregnancy from her parents until a few hours before giving birth. She received no prenatal care. She originally intended to give the baby up for adoption, but decided the morning after his birth that she wanted to see him. The nurse brought her an infant, with whom she spent several hours. After she went home with her parents, she realized that their description of the baby’s red hair did not match the infant she had seen. When the social worker came to the house for her to sign the consent papers, she insisted that she could not sign the papers without seeing her baby.

The social worker brought the infant to the Ramsey home. Jana and her family, including her parents, her grandmother, one sister, and her brother, spent several hours with the infant. When Jana announced that she wanted to keep the baby, the family was “very happy.” The social worker took the child back to the foster parents, over her objections. He was not returned to her for a week and a half or two weeks.

Jana went back to school while her mother cared for the baby. The crib was placed in her parents’ bedroom and her mother got up with the baby at night. Eventually, her parents suggested that they adopt the baby and she agreed. The adoption was final just before his first birthday. When she was 17, Jana married Mark Huele and moved out of her parents’ house.

Jana did not necessarily agree with her parents’ decision not to tell defendant the circumstances of his birth and adoption until he was in his teens, but she and the other family members went along with the decision. However, when defendant was about nine years old, Jana’s oldest sister began to drop hints that his parents were really his grandparents. The sister was then divorced and living at home and Jana felt that she was jealous of the amount of attention her parents paid to defendant rather than her own children. After defendant found out that he was adopted, he began to rebel. He was angry and began to get into trouble. Over time, it became more difficult for her parents to discipline defendant. She and her siblings could not tell their parents about anything defendant said or did, because they would not have believed it. Her parents thought that their children and grandchildren were jealous of defendant and tried to get him into trouble.

At age 11 or 12, defendant became very interested in listening to the police scanner. He would keep track of calls and would ride his bicycle to watch what was going on. He equipped his bicycle with a light and some sort of siren and carried the scanner with him.

Edna Jean Daggs testified that she had been defendant’s kindergarten teacher. She noticed that defendant was immature and had a difficult time staying on task. She had a hard time getting and then holding his attention. She discussed the situation with defendant’s parents, who declined to give permission to have him tested. At the beginning of the school year, routine speech, hearing, and vision testing was done. Defendant’s parents would not give permission for additional testing or the speech therapy that was recommended as a result of the screening. During the first semester, defendant did not learn to write his name and he did not learn to recognize any sounds associated with letters of the alphabet. Daggs later sent home another request for special education support services for defendant’s parents to sign. Instead, they withdrew him from school.

Defendant’s kindergarten grades were admitted via Daggs’s testimony. In addition to the report card she gave, which stated that he was not making progress, talked constantly, and had a very short attention span, the physical education teacher reported that defendant experienced difficulty with jumping, skipping, hopping, galloping, and marching. He had difficulty identifying parts of the body and naming animals.

Phyllis Benner testified that she was defendant’s teacher for the remainder of kindergarten after he transferred from public school. He had to repeat kindergarten because he had not yet begun to read. He attended the same school for first through fourth grades. Defendant was “a loner.” He did not have any friends at school. On show-and-tell days, he would bring keys to school. He would take his ring of keys out on the playground and try to tell the other children what he could open with them. He was disappointed that they were not interested.

Kathleen Carter testified that she had been defendant’s sixth-grade teacher at another private school. As a transfer student in fifth grade, he had a hard time fitting in. He was a C or D student in her class. She thought he would benefit from speech therapy and she referred him to the speech teacher. The principal signed off on her recommendation and defendant’s mother consented to the initial evaluation. However, she refused permission for him to attend speech therapy.

She further testified that defendant had difficulty paying attention, that he was easily distracted by the sound of a truck going by or even a lawn mower outside. He did not regularly complete his homework. He got into scuffles on the playground and in the lunch room. Defendant complained that other students picked on him and teased him. For example, he would bring a badge that he had made to school and tell his classmates that he worked for the FBI. He also brought toy handcuffs to school. He carried a briefcase instead of a backpack like the other students. She saw defendant carry a key ring with 20 to 25 keys on it, which hung from his belt loop. He liked to show them off and tell people what he could unlock.

Doris Turner testified that she had been defendant’s seventh- and eighth-grade mathematics and science teacher at a Catholic junior high school. She observed that defendant was not “able to interact with the other junior high students in a way that [she] would expect a seventh grade student to interact.” Thus, when assigning students to work together in lab groups, she had to select a partner for defendant who could communicate and work with him. He was not able to “banter” with the other students and took things that they said “very literally.” His feelings were easily hurt and she saw him “tense up,” “become rigid,” and have tears in his eyes when this happened. He had no close friends among the other students, but did stay at school after hours, as if school were a “safe haven” for him. “One-on-one, with an adult,” he was “fine.” He was very helpful to the teachers and offered to do chores such as sweeping and moving equipment.

Turner observed defendant regularly carrying a key ring with as many as 100 keys on it. He was fascinated with law enforcement and he would “hop on his bike after school” if he heard a siren. He was “always talking” about one particular police officer and often wanted to tell her about things that had happened with the police in town.

Jack Turner testified that he had been the principal of the Catholic school defendant attended. He found defendant to be “personable” in a one-on-one conversation. He was “very, very, very infatuated” with what the police and fire department were doing. However, he was “kind of a loner, had not matured socially, and as a consequence,” Turner thought, he “had a tendency to try and get attention, sometimes negatively.” Defendant was frequently given detention. Turner observed no close relationships between defendant and other students. He sometimes saw defendant trying to join a group of students in conversation and being rebuffed. Defendant would be “very hurt,” and he “did not accept rejection very well.” He participated in no extracurricular activities, but readily volunteered to help the teachers.

The situation with defendant deteriorated during his eighth-grade year. Money was missing from the locker room, from bingo receipts, and from the office. Turner suspected defendant. Defendant was finally caught with “a whole pocket full of keys that belonged to the school building” as well as keys to multiple pop machines at the school and elsewhere.

Turner took the matter to the school board, in a meeting that defendant’s parents attended. Turner’s position was that defendant should not stay at the school unless he received “professional help.” He recommended the Newman Center in Quincy, Illinois. At the end of the meeting, defendant’s parents knew that if they took defendant to the Newman Center or a similar facility for treatment, he could come back to the school. Shortly thereafter, Turner received a request to transfer defendant’s records to a public junior high school.

Nancy Clemonson testified that she had been employed as a school counselor at the Catholic junior high school defendant attended. She first met defendant after an “altercation,” in which he wielded his briefcase against other students. She spoke to him about appropriate behavior with other students. Later, she recommended to defendant’s parents that he receive counseling because he was getting into fights at school.

Linda Burdette testified that she was defendant’s biological aunt and adoptive sister. She had given birth to her first child, a son, six months before defendant was born. She had not been aware that her teenage sister, Jana, was pregnant. Jana had lost some weight earlier and Linda thought she was just gaining the weight back. Jana had no prenatal care. She did not take prenatal vitamins. During the pregnancy, she “smoked like a chimney” and “drank a lot of Pepsi,” because she did not like milk. Linda urged her sister to give the baby up for adoption, but encouraged her to see him before making her decision. Jana was “very angry” that the hospital initially substituted another baby for her to see. Linda did not think it was a good idea for her parents, then 49 and 50 years old, to adopt the infant. She and her husband considered adopting him, but did not feel that they could afford to care for another child.

Linda explained that her parents intended to tell defendant that he was adopted, but that they wanted to choose the right time. The other family members were aware of her parents’ insistence that they be the ones to tell defendant the truth, but they “just kept putting it off and off and off” until it was “too late.” When defendant was about eight years old, the oldest Ramsey sister, Debbie, told defendant that he was adopted. He has since refused to reveal what she told him or the circumstances, but he was very upset. Debbie was very jealous of defendant and Linda opined that she “didn’t tell him very nicely.”

After learning the circumstance of his birth, defendant tried to form a closer relationship with Jana, his birth mother, who lived nearby with her husband and four children. Her husband “didn’t care for [defendant] at all” and did not want him around. Her children were jealous of him. In the end, he was not “welcome” at Jana’s home.

In addition, defendant lost trust in his adoptive parents. Linda tried to talk to him and to tell him that he was loved, but he ignored her. His behavior changed and he became rebellious.

She then spoke about his fascination with keys, radios, and electrical equipment. Once she cleaned her parents’ house for them and she found keys and key rings hidden in the curtain valances and other places. He had “stuffed keys all over the house.” He was also fascinated with the police scanner and hand-held radios.

Shortly before the events of July 8, 1996, defendant came to Linda’s house to talk to her about his breakup with Rachel Sloop. She spent about an hour talking to him. He wanted advice on how to reconcile with Rachel and said that he intended to buy her a gift. Linda advised against it, explaining that he could not “buy” love. Instead, she recommended that he write her a card or letter explaining his feelings. He came back to see her on July 3, 1996, and told her that he bought a ring for Rachel. Linda was busy preparing for the holiday, and did not give him the time and attention he needed.

Linda stated that she visited defendant in prison once a week and that she once asked him how he felt about what he had done. He became very upset with her questioning him about his remorse and said that he thinks about what he did “every day.”

Roy Bell testified that he was a paramedic in Keokuk until 2002. He stated that when he was on ambulance calls, defendant would “come and see if we needed any help.” Sometimes defendant would arrive at the scene before the ambulance. Defendant also came to the garage where the ambulances were housed. Bell would occasionally allow defendant to get equipment from the truck or to help lift a patient on a backboard. Bell encouraged defendant to take the test to become an EMT.

Richard Marlin testified that when he was employed as a juvenile court specialist in the early 1990s he twice supervised defendant when he was ordered to perform community service. Groups of young men would be assigned to pick up trash or set up tents for community events. Defendant was a hard worker. He followed instructions and never complained about the work. Unlike some of the other young men, defendant was always on time. Marlin stated that he could not turn his back on defendant because the other boys would “knock him upside the head.” They did not like defendant, who had problems fitting in. If Marlin had to leave the work site, he had to take defendant with him because the other boys “would do something to him.”

Dr. Ruben Gur was accepted as an expert witness in the fields of psychology and neuropsychology. He provided a lengthy description of the structure of the brain, the functions of the various portions of the brain, and how the brain develops.

Dr. Henry Conroe was accepted as an expert in the field of psychiatry. He testified that he was asked to evaluate defendant to determine if he had any mental disorders that might have affected his behavior in July 1996. He reviewed records regarding the crimes including defendant’s videotaped statement to the police, records of interviews with people from the community, and defendant’s medical and school records. He interviewed defendant for a total of 9V2 hours over a period of several years. He also interviewed defendant’s adoptive parents, his biological mother, and his adoptive uncle.

Conroe observed that defendant had “difficulty explaining his emotions” and that when he did talk about his feelings, there was a “disconnect” between his facial expression and what he was