People v. Johnson
| Decision Date | 29 February 1972 |
| Docket Number | Gen. No. 55684 |
| Citation | 4 Ill.App.3d 249,280 N.E.2d 764 |
| Parties | PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Isaiah JOHNSON (Impleaded), Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | United States Appellate Court of Illinois |
Gerald W. Getty, Public Defender of Cook County, Chicago, for defendant-appellant; Lee T. Hettinger, James J. Doherty, Asst. Public Defenders, of counsel.
Edward V. Hanrahan, State's Atty. of Cook County, Chicago, for plaintiff-appellee; Robert A. Novelle, Henry A. Hauser, Asst. State's Attys., of counsel.
Defendant was charged with the murder of one George Shaw. He waived a jury, was tried by the court and was found guilty of murder. He was sentenced to serve fourteen to twenty years in the penitentiary. He was seventeen years of age and had no previous record. The evidence presented by the State disclosed that defendant stabbed the deceased in the leg after the deceased had attacked the defendant and his friend Joseph Rogers. Defendant contends that the State failed to prove him guilty of murder and that the evidence discloses that while he may have acted unreasonably, it was in defense of himself and another. Hence he contends that the sentence imposed should have been one for voluntary manslaughter and not murder.
Defendant and Joseph Rogers were with a group of boys, including the deceased, who were returning home from a dance at about 11:30 p.m. on June 14, 1969. Somewhere near 87th Street and Racine Avenue, Chicago, an argument arose over the purchase of liquor. Rogers testified that he and the deceased exchanged blows and that he (Rogers) then went across the street. At that point the defendant became involved in a fight with the deceased. Rogers testified that he saw defendant pull out a knife during the fight and that the deceased did not have a weapon. Another witness for the State, Leonard Lindsay, testified that he saw the deceased strike Joseph Rogers, after which defendant and the deceased started fighting. He further testified that defendant had a knife. Two other witnesses for the State testified to seeing the fight between defendant and the deceased.
The testimony for the defense was to the effect that defendant went to the defense of one Rogers, his friend who had been struck by the deceased. A fight ensued between defendant and the deceased, during the course of which defendant stabbed the deceased in the leg and escaped. The deceased was larger than defendant and was reputed to be a skillful and aggressive fighter. Defendant contends that the evidence presented by the State raises the issue of self-defense, that this issue being thus raised, the State has the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant did not act in self-defense.
The Voluntary Manslaughter Statute (Ill.Rev.Stat.1967, ch. 38, par. 9--2(b)) provides in part as follows:
'(b) A person who intentionally or knowingly kills an individual commits voluntary manslaughter if at the time of the killing he believes the circumstances to be such that, if they existed, would justify or exonerate the killing under the principles stated in Article 7 of this Code, but his belief is unreasonable.'
The principles stated in Article 7 (Ill.Rev.Stat.1967, ch. 38, par. 7--1) are as follows:
While it is clear that viewing the evidence in calm detachment from the event, defendant did not act reasonably in stabbing an unarmed man in the leg, such a detached reflection cannot be required of a 17-year old youth who was being pummelled by a bigger man. It is the defendant's state of mind at the time of the incident that is the critical element. People v. Williams, 56 Ill.App.2d 159, 205 N.E.2d 749.
The evidence presented by both the State and the defense shows that defendant attempted to help his friend and in so doing began the fight which resulted in the stabbing. As the deceased had been the aggressor, defendant's conduct was justified on the basis of self-defense. Defendant and the deceased punched and wrestled with one another. The struggle progressed from the sidewalk where it had started, into the street, where defendant stabbed the deceased in the leg and ran.
The Voluntary Manslaughter Statute (Ill.Rev.Stat.1967, ch. 38, par. 9--2(a) (1)) further provides as follows:
'(a) A person who kills an individual without lawful justification commits voluntary manslaughter if at the time of the killing he is acting under a sudden and intense passion resulting from serious provocation by:
(1) The individual killed, * * *'
The offense of voluntary manslaughter is a legal compromise between murder and exoneration, recognizing the human...
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