The PEOPLE v. DeFrates

After a bench trial in the criminal court of Cook County, the defendant, Walter DeFrates, was found guilty of rape and sentenced to the penitentiary for a term of 10 to 25 years. The appellate court, with one justice dissenting, affirmed the judgment of conviction, (53 Ill. App. 2d 277,) and we have granted defendant’s petition for leave to appeal. The critical issue is whether the proof establishes beyond all reasonable doubt that an act of sexual intercourse was forcible and against the will of the complaining witness.

Defendant was a heating and air conditioning engineer who, on at least…