Court Opinion

ID: 9519647
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 01:21:18.594453+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:44:34.936700
License: Public Domain

Mr. JUSTICE GEORGE J. MORAN, dissenting: The majority concedes that all that need be shown to justify the giving of an instruction is a slight amount of evidence supporting the underlying theory. It is clear from a fair reading of the record in this case that defendant Tiller testified that he did not fire the first shot and that he believed the police wanted to kill him. It is equally clear that the policemen who witnessed and/or participated in the incident testified that ample opportunity to surrender was afforded the defendant at various intervals during the shoot-out. In holding that this evidence does not warrant the giving of IPI Criminal No. 7.05 on voluntary manslaughter, the majority first examined the State’s evidence in its entirety and concludes that nothing therein would support the giving of any of the tendered instructions. The court then proceeds to examine the defendant’s evidence in its entirety and concludes, that the trial court properly refused IPI Criminal No. 7.05 on voluntary manslaughter because defendant had no recollection of shooting Officer Farmer. If the jury believed defendant’s testimony in toto, the majority reasons, then defendant’s killing of Farmer would be justified. If not, the jury must believe the State’s evidence and thus defendant would be guilty of murder and nothing else. I believe this is an unduly restrictive and improper method of reviewing the evidence. The defendant is entitled to an instruction on a lesser included offense if there is any evidence in the record which would so reduce the crime (People v. Joyner, 50 Ill. 2d 302, 278 N.E.2d 756; People v. Jones, 384 Ill. 407, 51 N.E.2d 543); moreover, such evidence may even be inconsistent with his own testimony. (People v. Thompson, 35 Ill. App. 3d 773, 342 N.E.2d 445.) I think this means that all of the evidence, both the State’s and the defendant’s, must be examined together and if the jury could reasonably believe portions of the evidence of each side and arrive at a lesser included offense, the applicable instruction must be given. Here the jury could have believed both that defendant thought the police wanted to kill him and that the police gave him opportunities to surrender without harm to himself. This being so, the jury could have found that defendant believed circumstances existed which would justify the killing but that his belief was unreasonable, which is the substance of IPI Criminal No. 7.05. The majority assumes that juries will accept all aspects of one party’s proof and reject all aspects of the other’s. In my opinion this is unrealistic. Finally, I do not agree with the majority’s interpretation of People v. Johnson, 1 Ill. App. 3d 433, 274 N.E.2d 168, and its progeny. The language in Johnson is unequivocal. Once the court determines that the evidence requires the giving of an instruction on the justifiable use of force (self defense) an instruction on voluntary manslaughter must be given. The only difference between the two is that with the former the belief that the use of force is necessary is reasonable while with the latter the belief is unreasonable. People v. Joyner, 50 Ill. 2d 302, 278 N.E.2d 756.