Court Opinion

ID: 9860050
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 23:08:25.111241+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T11:17:14.400399
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE JIGANTI, dissenting: In my estimation Mary Cisewski did not receive a fair trial. The defendant characterized it as a “trial by ambush.” The majority agrees that that is an apt description. The majority concludes, however, that the error was harmless. It concludes this by citing certain statements of the defense attorney. I do not believe that you can lightly pass over the fact that the jury was instructed, at defense counsel’s request, on the issue of involuntary manslaughter. That is, Mary Cisewski would be guilty of the lesser offense of involuntary manslaughter if she acted in disregard of the decedent’s safety. The testimony that Mary Cisewski telephoned the decedent’s employer after the occurrence posited with the jury the idea of a very deliberate act that militates against the conclusion that the conduct of this paranoid woman was reckless. I would reverse and remand this matter for a new trial.