Court Opinion

ID: 9520102
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 01:31:24.598351+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:45:32.414663
License: Public Domain

I conclude a properly instructed jury may infer knowledge of the collision itself from the circumstances surrounding the accident if it believes from those circumstances that the defendant could not but help have knowledge of the occurrence. Absent an instruction on the proper mental state to be applied to the case it is more than obvious that the jury was misguided to the manifest prejudice of the defendant, Nunn. The error in this case was not harmless, nor was the proof otherwise sufficient to establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. (See People v. Oliver (1st Dist. 1977), 50 Ill. App. 3d 665, 365 N.E.2d 618.) Accordingly I join in the majority opinion reversing the defendant’s conviction for leaving the scene, though a remandment would be in order had the defendant not already served his sentence.