People v. Barkauskas

Following a jury trial, defendant Edward Barkauskas was convicted of the murder of his wife (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 38, par. 9-1(a)) and armed violence (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 38, par. 33A-2), solicitation (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 38, par. 8-1(a)), and conspiracy (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 38, par. 8-2(a)), in connection with that murder. The judgments on armed violence, solicitation, and conspiracy were vacated, and the trial court sentenced defendant to natural life in prison for murder. Defendant appeals, contending that: (1) the prosecution failed to comply with rules of discovery; (2) the prosecution failed to prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt; (3) prosecutorial misconduct deprived him of a fair trial; (4) the trial court erred in conducting an in camera inspection of a witness' mental-health records outside the presence of counsel; (5) he received inadequate legal representation at trial; (6) the trial court erred in refusing to tender certain instructions to the jury; and (7) his natural-life sentence is excessive. For the following reasons, we affirm. The record reflects that a few weeks prior to the homicide, defendant approached James Galason at a hot dog stand on 43rd and Rockwell in Chicago and asked him if he was ""crazy enough"" to kill defendant's wife Joanne. Galason testified that he agreed to do it in exchange for the remainder of insurance money after the victim's funeral expenses were paid. Galason further testified that three days after his initial meeting with defendant, he was walking down the block with his roommates Ken and Joe Beringer when Ken pulled out a picture of defendant's wife and remarked, ""We'll see who gets her first."" Galason also stated that about two Tuesdays before the homicide, the defendant came to his apartment and implored him to kill his wife soon because she wanted to see a lawyer about a divorce. The defendant asked Galason to shoot her below the neck so there could be an ""open coffin wake.""