Court Opinion

ID: 9734062
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 17:24:14.959519+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:26:45.340887
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE MORAN, dissenting: I disagree with that portion of the majority opinion which holds that under the authority of Enmund v. Florida (1982), 458 U.S. 782, 73 L. Ed. 2d 1140, 102 S. Ct. 3368, defendant’s death sentences must be vacated. It seems to me that the majority places upon Enmund too narrow an interpretation. Further, the circumstances in that case are clearly distinguishable. In Enmund, the two victims were shot to death by defendant’s codefendants during the course of a robbery. The murders occurred only after one of the victims shot and wounded a codefendant. Thus, there is every reason to believe that the murders were an unplanned and spontaneous reaction. Defendant Enmund participated in the offense to the extent that he drove the getaway car. He was not present at the scene of the crime. The Florida Supreme Court found no evidence that he planned the robbery. In the instant case, Elem testified that defendant suggested the idea of robbing the proprietor of a cleaning store. Although defendant’s testimony differed considerably on this point, the jury was not required to believe him. There was evidence from which the jury could infer that defendant participated in planning the offense. Further, unlike Enmund, he was present, at least part of the time, during the commission of the offense. The evidence indicates that he stole the “mail lady’s” jeep and a television set. Clearly, defendant participated in the offense to a greater degree than was the case for Enmund. More importantly, Elem testified that defendant shot Stoltz just prior to the cleaning-shop robbery. That shooting took place during the course of robbing the victim. Shortly thereafter, defendant and Jones entered the cleaning shop, again with the intent of robbing someone. The majority notes defendant’s “apparent knowledge of the fact that Jones might harm [the mail lady].” (94 Ill. 2d at 315.) It is difficult to believe that defendant did not anticipate that life would be taken or lethal force employed. As a majority of the Supreme Court stated, in reversing Enmund’s death sentence: “It would be very different if the likelihood of a killing in the course of a robbery were so substantial that one should share the blame for the killing if he somehow participated in the felony.” (Enmund v. Florida (1982), 458 U.S. 782, 799, 73 L. Ed. 2d 1140, 1153, 102 S. Ct. 3368, 3378.) In the instant case, I cannot help but conclude that there was a substantial likelihood that a killing would occur. Under these circumstances, Enmund should not be read to preclude imposition of the death sentence. Further, it should be noted that defendant in the instant case received the death penalty for murdering two or more individuals. Thus, contrary to Enmund, the sentence was not imposed solely because an unintended death occurred during the commission of a felony. See People v. Ruiz (1982), 94 Ill. 2d 245, 269. I fear, too, that the application of Enmund to the instant case sets an unfortunate precedent. It will be difficult indeed to impose the death penalty for any unwitnessed murder in which defendant is not the actual “triggerman.” This is so despite the fact that defendant just murdered one victim during the course of a separate robbery, and although he was present during, and actively participated in, the offense in question. The position adopted by the majority benefits those defendants who are careful not to leave any witnesses to the crime. For these above-related reasons, I would affirm the imposition of the death penalty in this case. CHIEF JUSTICE RYAN joins in this dissent.