delivered the opinion of the court:
Fоllowing a jury trial, defendant was convicted of two counts of theft and sentenced to consecutive four-year terms. On appeal, he contends that (1) the trial court erred (a) in not dismissing one of the indictments because there was no grand jury testimony concerning his involvement and because a witness’ testimony before the grand jury was perjured, (b) in admitting into evidence photographs of the vehicles involved in the offenses as well as certain business records, and (c) in allowing two State’s witnesses to testify concerning certain documents and to give expert testimony; (2) he was denied a fair trial when a mistrial was refused after a witness testified concerning newspaper аrticles about insurance fraud; (3) he was not proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt; and (4) he was improperly sentenced to consecutive terms.
It appears that on February 11, 1980, Anthony Capinegro drove his white 1979 Lincoln Mark V, vehicle identification number (VIN) 9 Y89S615650, into a tree. His insurance company — Allstate—paid him on the basis that the car was a total loss, and it was then sold for salvage. Then, on July 13, 1980, defendant went to a Chicago police station and filed an accident report, stating that while driving a white 1979 Lincoln Mark V having the same VIN — 9Y89S615650—he was struck by a Hunt’s U-Drive rental truck. He returned to the station the next day to report that the car radio had been taken from the car while it wаs parked at the scene of the accident. Thereafter, defendant settled his claim against Hunt’s, receiving two checks from them — one for $7,350 and the other for $383.
On July 26, 1980, a man identifying himself as Stansbury, who was later identified as defendant, walked into a different police station and reported that his white 1979 Lincoln Mark V — subsequently determined to have the same VIN as the Capinegro car — had been involved in a collision with a Ryder Truck Company rental truck. Two days later, he returned to the police station to report that his car radio was taken while he was reporting the accident. He settled his claim for damages because of this incident with Earl Podolsky of Ryder Truck Company, receiving a check in the amount of $8,286 — which the record shows was deposited into the savings account of defendant’s wife.
Capinegro testified that on February 11, 1980, he was driving his white 1979 Lincoln Mark V on the driveway to his home when the car skidded on some ice on a hill, bounced off a small tree, and smashed into a larger tree. His insurance carrier — Allstate Insurance Company-notified him that they considered the car a total loss, and after receiving a $12,640.25 check for the vehicle, he transferred the title to Allstate. He testified that three sets of photographs — People’s group exhibits A, B, and C — 1 portrayed the condition of his car as he observed it upon returning from the hospital, except that the hood of the car was missing in groups B and C. He also testified that the crack in the windshield depicted in groups B and C showed where he hit his head.
Brian Hanson, the property unit claims manager for Allstate, testified that one of his responsibilities was Allstate’s total loss unit, which, among other things, appraised vehicles when the damages exceeded the value of the car itself. In this case, he authorized the classification of Capinegro’s car as a total loss, and payment was made on that basis; Allstate then sold the car for salvage to A-l Auto Sales without doing any repair work on it. He testified also that photo groups A, B, and C depicted the same automobile and that, based on his 12 years of experience, the damage shown in the B group of photographs was not caused by an automobile or a truck but by contact with some type of large cylindrical object such as a pole or a tree. He testified, on redirect examination, that the differences he saw in the photographs showed the different angles used by the photographers, rather than any actual difference in the damages, and that, although the angles made comparison more difficult, he had no doubt that the damages were the same in all three groups of photographs.
Officer Perón testified that defendant and аnother individual came into the station on July 13, 1980, to report an accident, and they made out an accident report stating that their vehicle was struck broadside by the rental truck. Defendant also told him that the people in his car had been injured and were going to the hospital after he finished reporting the accident.
Officer Demaar testified that defendant came into the station on July 14, 1980, to report that the radio had been taken from his car while it was parked at the scene of the accident.
Farron ¿rougher, a casualty claims adjuster for General Adjustment Bureau, whose position involved investigation, evaluation, and settlement of such casualty сlaims, testified concerning the contents of his company’s file on the adjustment of the reported accident on July 13, 1980, involving defendant and the Hunt’s truck, driven by Richard Breakfield. Brougher stated that the repair estimate for the Lincoln was $10,741 and the point of contact was the front end. Brougher settled the claim of defendant for $7,350 and also paid $383 for defendant’s son’s personal injury claim.
Hector Hunt, president of Hunt’s U-Drive truck rental, testified that Richard Breakfield rented a truck on July 12, 1980, and returned the truck on July 13, 1980. Hunt’s procedure upon both rental and return of a truck requires an employee to walk around the truck to check for damage and to make a notation on the rental contract if there is any such damage to the truck. This rental contract did not have such a notation, and after he found out that the truck was reported to have been involved in an accident, Hunt notified his attorney and also asked General Adjustment Bureau to investigate the incident. He also stated that he personally inspects a truck if it has been involved in an accident where there is a possibility of personal injury, and he did so here on the day after the truck was returned and found the condition of the truck to be the same as it was prior to the rental, with no apparent additional damage. Hunt told his law firm that the truck was not damaged, but his company eventually sеttled with defendant, his son, and defendant’s two passengers.
Officer Pearson testified that he handled a walk-in traffic accident report on July 26, 1980, involving an International truck driven by a Mr. Paige, a 1979 Lincoln (having the same VIN as the Capinegro car) driven by Mr. Stansbury, and a Volkswagen. He testified that front-end damage was reported on the Lincoln.
Officer Marva Smith testified that two individuals came into the station on July 28, 1980, one of whom identified himself as Edward Stansbury and reported that his car radio was taken from his car after he had an accident on July 26, 1980. Officer Smith also testified that she had seen both individuals on July 26 when they came to the station to report the original accident, and she identified defendаnt as the individual who had given his name as Edward Stansbury.
Earl Podolsky, a safety manager for Ryder Truck Rental, testified that the truck allegedly involved in the July 26, 1980, accident was rented by Carlos Paige on that same day and, although the rental contract indicated that the truck was “dispatched with damage,” no additional damage to the right front corner was noted on the contract when the truck was returned. Two days after the Ryder accident report was made, Podolsky received a telephone call from the individual who was driving the Lincoln, and after discussing the incident with him, Podolsky called Independent Auto Appraisers to obtain an estimate on the collision repairs. The photоgraphs of the truck showed only minor damage, such as a bent bumper, scrapes on the fender, and scrapes at the rear of the hood. He also testified that he told “Edward Stansbury” in person at the Ryder offices on August 18, 1980, that he would have to have proof of title before the claim could be finalized. “Edward Stansbury” also gave Podolsky a new address at that time — 2111 East 83rd Street — which the record indicates is the address of defendant. Podolsky testified that he also spoke to “Mr. Stansbury” on August 26, when the latter signed a release of his claim against Ryder and received its check in settlement. Podolsky identified defendant as the individual with whom he spoke at the Ryder offices and who had given his name as Edward Stansbury. On cross-examination, he stated that the Ryder file contained a certificate of title for the 1979 Lincoln Continental which listed the VIN as 9Y89S615650, the purchase date of the vehicle as June 8, 1980, the issue date of the certificate as July 3, 1980, and the name and address of the owner as Edward Stansbury of 2208 East 68th Street.
Don Baron, formerly employed as an appraiser by Auto Damage Appraisers, testified that he followed normal procedures during the appraisal of the 1979 Lincoln for Ryder truck, which included taking photographs of its damaged areas, and he suggested to Ryder that the car be considered a total loss. He also testified that the condition of the damage shown in People’s group exhibit B was very similar to the damage in the group exhibit C photographs taken by Auto Damage Appraisers. He testified that the point of impact seemed to be identical in exhibits A — 2, B — 1, and C — 2; that from the damage it looked like the car hit a post, a tree, or a fireplug; and that, if the Ryder truck did the damage depicted in the photographs of the Lincoln, the truck would have suffered more damage because it had a fiberglass hood or nose. He did not believe that the damage on the truck was related to the damage to the Continental. On cross-examination, he stated that in photographs A — 2 and B — 1, the grill, head, mirror, and bumper guard were not in the same position in both pictures, and he agreed to several other minor discrepancies pointed out by defense counsel. He also stated that several of the items appeared to be at a different angle because the car was photographed from different angles. On redirect examination, he testified that if the Lincoln had been repaired after the July 13 incident, it would have taken at least a month for such extensive repairs. He concluded that it seemed to him that A — 2, B — 1, and C — 2 were photographs of the same vehicle and that similar damage was involved.
Lillie Burrows, legal records coordinator at First National Bаnk of Chicago, testified that according to the bank’s records, a check in the amount of $8,286, payable to Edward Stansbury and carrying an endorsement by him, was deposited in Lavon Rena Shaw’s account on August 28,1980.
Defendant testified that on July 13, 1980, he was on his way to White Castle with William Roberson, Anthony Nix, and his son — Terrance Shaw — when the automobile he was driving was struck by a Hunt’s truck. Defendant, his son and William Roberson went to Jackson Park Hospital, where X rays were taken of his hand and his son’s head, and he received, in addition, treatment for contusions on his scalp. He stated further that on July 13, the car he was driving — a white 1979 Lincoln Mark V — was owned by Edward Stansbury but that the license plate on the Lincoln was one of thе two plates assigned to defendant’s Mercury Cougar. The plate was on the Lincoln at the time of the accident because he was in the process of purchasing the Lincoln from Stansbury, but the sale was never consummated. Farron Brougher contacted him about his claim against Hunt’s U-Drive, and after several conversations with him, defendant received a check from Brougher in settlement of his claim. He also testified that he returned the Lincoln to Stansbury after the accident and that he kept only a small amount of the $7,350 he received from Hunt’s. He denied any involvement in the July 26, 1980, accident with Carlos Paige and also denied having any conversations with Earl Podolsky.
On cross-examination, defendant stated that although he had seen him at an auto auction sometime before the accident, he had never had a conversation or any business delayings with Breakfield — the driver of the Hunt’s truck — prior to the accident, but he did sell Breakfield a 1977 Cadillac seven months after the accident. He met Carlos Paige after the accident, and although Stansbury himself did not tell him about the accident, he had heard that Stansbury — while driving the Lincoln Continental — had been involved in an accident with Carlos Paige; Stansbury had previously purchased cars from him. Defendant also stated that he bought a 1978 Lincoln on July 16, 1980, at an auction and titled the car in his name, but denied that he evеntually transferred the title to Stansbury. After the prosecutor produced a copy of the title, however, defendant admitted that he sold the 1978 Lincoln to Edward Stansbury in 1981, while keeping a lien on it. Defendant further stated that his wife knew Edward Stansbury and, although she did not socialize with him, she did cash the Ryder check for Stansbury in August 1980 and, after she put the check through her account, she gave the money to Stansbury after keeping “a couple of hundred dollars” for cashing the check.
Jeffrey Louber, a forensic scientist employed by the Illinois Department of Law Enforcement as a document examiner, called by the defense, testified that his position requires him to compare handwriting, and that he was asked by the prosecution to compare certain documents in this case. He examined over 100 exemplars of known handwriting from defendant and comparable handwriting, as well as the reproduction of the name Edward Stansbury by defendant in his own handwriting. He compared those with the Stansbury signature on the Ryder release forms and with the Stansbury endorsement on the Ryder check. He did not identify either of the signatures as defendant’s handwriting, but stated that although he was unable to come to a definite conclusion because of the unnatural appearance of the comparable handwriting in conjunction with the apparent pen failure within the Stansbury endorsеment, he did find similarities between defendant’s known handwriting on both the endorsement and release forms. By “unnatural” he meant that there was distortion in the handwriting submitted. He stated also that the exemplar in which defendant wrote the name Edward Stansbury varied greatly from other examples of defendant’s known handwriting and, assuming that defendant was neither sick nor physically handicapped, he would conclude that he had disguised his writing when he wrote the Stansbury signature to be used for comparison. He admitted that if someone was simply nervous, the inconsistencies would be present throughout all of the known writing, but in this case many of the inconsistencies were limited to the “Edward Stansbury” exemplar.
Ronald Schillaci, who had worked in the body and fender business for 27 years, testified for the defense that the angle of the header panel in group exhibit A was different than the angle in exhibit B — 1; the curvature of the bumper and bumper cushion was more pronounced in exhibit A; the filler panel is hanging straight down in one photograph but is bent backwards in exhibit B; and the bumper is bent backwards in one of the photographs. He also testified that the damage in exhibit A looked like it was caused by a cylindrical object, but the damage in exhibit B appeared to have been caused by some blunt or square object. He opined that the damage in exhibits A and B had been caused by different accidents, but he was unsure abоut any differences in the damage shown in exhibits B and C.
Opinion
Defendant first contends that the trial court erred in refusing to grant his motion to dismiss the indictment in 82 C 8541, which covered the Ryder truck collision of July 26, 1980. He argues that because Richard Breakfield’s grand jury testimony was false, the indictment should have been dismissed. He is correct in asserting that a court may properly dismiss an indictment based upon perjured testimony (see People v. Rivera (1979),
Defendant also argues that there was no evidence before the grand jury to connect defendant to the theft charge for the July 26, 1980, incident. While a trial court has inherent supervisory аuthority to review grand jury transcripts and may dismiss an indictment which is not supported by any evidence (People v. Rodgers (1982),
Defendant next contends that the trial court erred in admitting People’s group exhibits A, B, and C, which were photographs of the 1979 Lincoln Continental. We disagree. In support of his contention, defendant argues they were inadmissible for lack of foundation, but it is well established that a proper foundation for photographs is laid where they are “identified by a witness as a portrayal of certain facts relevant to the issue and verified by such witness on personal knowledge as a correct representation of the facts.” (People v. Thomas (1967),
Defendant also argues that foundation was lacking for the admission of People’s group exhibits B — 21 and C — 9, photographs of the Hunt’s and Ryder trucks. However, we believe that proper foundation was provided in the testimony of Hector Hunt, president of Hunt’s U-Drive, and Earl Podolsky, safety manager for Ryder Truck Company. Each testified to a personal inspection of his company’s truck immediately after learning that it had been involved in an aсcident and that the photographs, group exhibits B and C respectively, correctly showed the condition of their vehicles at that time.
Defendant, in challenging the admission over his objection of various business records, contends that the trial court improperly allowed testimony regarding the contents of those records. He first argues that documents from Allstate’s file concerning Capinegro’s claim were improperly admitted. Those documents are (1) a loss report filled out by an Allstate adjuster; (2) a group estimate prepared by an adjuster from Allstate’s total loss unit; (3) Allstate’s total loss and salvage evaluation form; (4) Allstate’s sight draft; (5) a mileage odometer statement in which Capinegro certified the mileage on the Lincoln at the time he transferred title to Allstate; and (6) another odometer statement in which Allstate certified the mileage on the Lincoln before transferring title to the salvage company. The foundation required for admission under the business records exception to the hearsay rule is that (1) the writing or record was made as a memorandum or record of the act, transaction, occurrence, or event; (2) it was made in the regular course of business; and (3) it was the regular course of such business to make such a record at the time of the transaction or within a reasonable time thereafter. Ill. Rev. Stat. 1983, ch. 38, par. 115 — 5(a).
Defendant initially maintains that there was no testimony that the documents were prepared in the ordinary course of the business of Allstate at or near the time of the transaction. However, we note that Brian Hanson, a property unit claim manager for Allstate who testified that the documents were all used in the adjustment of Capinegro’s claim, also established the necessary foundation in the following colloquy during his testimony:
“Q. Are those documents that are made in the normal course of business of All State Insurance Company when a claim is adjusted?
A. Yes.
* * *
Q. Now, are the entries that are made on those business records of All State Insurance Company mаde at or near the time of the transaction to which those entries refer in the normal course of business?
A. Yes. They are all made at the dates that are written.”
Defendant additionally argues that Hanson had no personal knowledge of the records, but we find such argument to be equally meritless, since the witness not only testified that he was personally involved in and knew that the documents were used in the adjustment of Capinegro’s claim, but also stated that his personal signature appeared on some of the forms. We find that the documents from the Allstate file were properly admitted into evidence.
We also see no merit in the additional argument of defendant that once the documents were admitted into evidence, Hanson should not have been allowed to testify regarding them. Defendant refers us to Smith v. Williams (1975),
Defendant raises the same objection with respect to admission of People’s exhibits B — 16, B — 17, B — 19, and B — 20, documents entered into evidence during the testimony of Farron Brougher. The State correctly points out, however, that the trial court specifiсally asked whether defendant had any objections to admission of these exhibits, and defendant replied in the negative. He has thus waived the issue for purposes of appeal. See People v. Rhoads (1982),
Defendant also argues that People’s exhibits C — 6, C — 7, C— 7a, and C — 8 were improperly admitted. He failed to object, however, to exhibit C — 8 despite questioning by the trial court, and he has therefore waived this issue with respect to exhibit C — 8. (People v. Rhoads (1982) ,
Defendant’s contention that the trial court erred in allowing expert testimony which compared the damage to the Lincoln as depicted in People’s group exhibits A, B, and C is meritless. He argues that Brian Hanson, who handled adjustment of Capinegro’s insurance claim for Allstate and who was qualified as an expert in the area of auto adjusting and repair, should not have been allowed to compare the damage portrayed in the photographs. In support of his argument, defendant extracts information from cross-examination of Hanson, such as his lack of training regarding oxidation of bare materials and certain qualifying statements offered in explanation of the repair estimate. Such items clearly may affect the expert’s level of certainty, but it is well established that lack of absolute certainty goes to the weight of the testimony, not to the admissibility. (See People v. Columbo (1983) ,
Defendant further posits that the trial court erred by not granting its motion for a mistrial when Earl Podolsky testified about newspaper articles which discussed the insurаnce fraud scheme which was the basis for this investigation and the subsequent charges. Combined with the effect of this testimony, he also posits that the prosecutor’s mention of insurance fraud in closing argument prejudiced defendant’s right to a fair trial. It is well established, however, that a defendant cannot complain on appeal about testimony which he procured or invited. (People v. Jones (1983),
Regarding the prosecutor’s comment on insurance fraud during closing argument, we note that defendant failed to object to such comments, and any error is waived by such failure to make timely objection during trial. (See People v. Bartall (1983),
We turn then to defendant’s contention that he was not proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and we note that he presents no authority and very little argument on this issue. It is well established that where a defendant seeks reversal, theories not advanced with citation of authority are deemed waived (People v. Ramirez (1983),
Defendant finally contends that the trial court abused its discretion when it sentenced him to consecutive four-year terms for each of the two theft convictions. In support of his contention, he first argues that consecutive sentences cannot be imposed for “offenses which were committed as part of a single course of conduct during which there was no substantial change in the nature of the criminal objective.” (HI. Rev. Stat. 1981, ch. 38, par. 1005 — 8—4(a).) Although testimony from the trial and from the sentencing hearing indicates that these offenses were part of a larger scheme of financial fraud, the two incidents did not constitute a single course of conduct within the contemplation of section 5 — 8—4(a). See People v. Miller (1983),
Defendant also argues that the protection of the public is not served by imposition of consecutive sentences on this defendant and, in support of his argument, refers us to People v. Griffin (1982),
For the reasons stated, the convictions and sentences are affirmed.
Affirmed.
MEJDA, P.J., and LORENZ, J., concur.
Notes
Group A photographs, taken on February 22, 1980, by Allstate (the February 11, 1980, accident); Group B, taken July 22, 1980, by General Adjustment Bureau (the alleged July 13, 1980, accident); and Group C, taken August 8, 1980, by Independent Auto Appraisers (the alleged July 26,1980, accident).