People v. Willett

• Citation: 37 N.E.3d 469
• Decision Date: 04 August 2015
• Docket Number: No. 4–13–0702.,4–13–0702.
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff–Appellee, v. Mark WILLETT, Defendant–Appellant.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

37 N.E.3d 469

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff–Appellee

v.Mark WILLETT, Defendant–Appellant.

No. 4–13–0702.

Appellate Court of Illinois, Fourth District.

Aug. 4, 2015.

Michael J. Pelletier, Alan D. Goldberg, and Chan Woo Yoon (argued), State Appellate Defender's Office, Chicago, for appellant.

John Milhiser, State's Attorney, Springfield (Patrick Delfino, David J. Robinson, and David E. Mannchen (argued), State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor's Office, of counsel), for the People.

OPINION

Justice STEIGMANN delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.

¶ 1 In May 2012, a grand jury indicted defendant, Mark Willett, on one count of aggravated battery to a child (720 ILCS 5/12–3.05(b) (1) (West 2010)). The indictment alleged that in April 2012, defendant shook his two-month-old daughter, M.W., causing brain injury. In June 2013, a jury found defendant guilty of that offense. In August 2013, the trial court sentenced him to 16 years in prison.

¶ 2 Defendant appeals, arguing that he was denied a fair trial because the trial court (1) allowed the State to argue an incorrect legal definition of “knowingly” during its closing argument without permitting defense counsel to argue the correct definition, (2) refused to instruct the jury on the lesser-included offense of reckless conduct (720 ILCS 5/12–5 (West 2010) ), and (3) allowed the State's medical experts to describe M.W.'s injuries as “non-accidental.” Because we agree that the court allowed the jury to render its decision based upon an incorrect definition of “knowingly,” we reverse and remand for a new trial.

¶ 3 I. BACKGROUND

¶ 4 The grand jury indictment alleged, in pertinent part, that on or about April 27, 2012, defendant “knowingly and without legal justification, cause[d] great bodily harm or permanent disability to M.W., a child two months of age, in that said defendant shook M.W., causing injury to M.W.'s brain.”

¶ 5 At defendant's June 2013 jury trial, the parties presented the following evidence, which we summarize only as needed to address the issues defendant raises on appeal.

¶ 6 A. Taylor Williams' Testimony

¶ 7 Taylor Williams, defendant's girlfriend and M.W.'s mother, testified that M.W. was born two weeks premature in late February 2012, after approximately 30 hours of labor. In April 2012, Taylor and M.W. were living with defendant in a small, one-bedroom apartment in Springfield. Taylor identified photographs of the family's apartment and an image of a small, swinging baby cradle composed mostly of plastic and fabric, which the witnesses referred to as a “swing.” Taylor testified that M.W. often slept in the swing, which was lined with a “very soft” blanket for extra padding.

¶ 8 On the morning of April 27, 2012, defendant, a 25–year–old fast-food worker, awoke at 6 a.m. for his 7 a.m. shift at Wendy's. Defendant had gone to bed at 3 a.m. and slept for only three hours. After defendant left for work, Taylor spent the first half of the day with M.W. Although M.W. was somewhat fussy that day, she seemed fine overall. Shortly before 3:30 p.m., Taylor's mother drove Taylor and M.W. to IHOP restaurant, where Taylor began her afternoon shift as a server. After dropping Taylor off at IHOP, Taylor's mother drove with M.W. to Wendy's to pick up defendant, who was getting done with his shift around that same time. Taylor's mother drove defendant and M.W. from Wendy's to the apartment, where she dropped them both off. Thereafter, defendant and two-month-old M.W. were alone in the apartment.

¶ 9 At approximately 6 p.m., Taylor called defendant, who reported that M.W. was “having troubles.” Taylor could hear M.W. crying in the background. She told defendant to either feed M.W. or let her cry herself to sleep. During a second phone call, around 8 p.m., defendant told Taylor that M.W. “wasn't responding,” and he needed to take her to the hospital. The trial court admitted several photographs, taken at the hospital, showing bruises around M.W.'s armpits, shoulders, and jaw, which Taylor testified were not present when she was with M.W. earlier that day.

¶ 10 B. Officer Kathy Martin's Testimony

¶ 11 Officer Kathy Martin of the Springfield police department testified that at approximately 10 p.m. on April 27, 2012, she responded to a report of an injured child at the pediatric intensive care unit of St. John's Hospital. At the hospital, Dr. Mogal (whose first name does not appear in the record) informed Martin that M.W. arrived at the hospital pale, limp, and unresponsive. Mogal diagnosed M.W. with a “brain bleed” and told Martin that the injury “was not an accident” but, instead, was potentially caused by “shaken baby syndrome.” (Defense counsel objected on hearsay grounds to Martin's testimony about what Mogal told her, but the trial court overruled the objection because the prosecutor claimed the testimony was “being offered for purposes of [Martin's] investigation.” Defendant has not challenged this testimony on appeal.)

¶ 12 Martin spoke with defendant at the hospital, who explained that he wanted to take a nap after arriving home from work at 3:30 that afternoon, but it was difficult to do so because M.W. was crying. According to defendant, M.W. eventually fell asleep, and when he tried to wake her, she was unresponsive. Defendant told Martin that he contacted his cousin, who came to the apartment and provided defendant and M.W. a ride to the hospital.

¶ 13 C. Defendant's Police–Station Interview

¶ 14 Detective Brian Johnson of the Springfield police department testified that he went to St. John's Hospital at approximately 11 p.m. on April 27, 2012, where he spoke briefly with defendant. At approximately 1:20 a.m. on April 28, 2012, Johnson, accompanied by Detective Scott Kincaid, recorded an interview with defendant, which the trial court admitted into evidence and played for the jury.

¶ 15 In the interview, defendant stated that when he arrived home from work shortly after 3:30 p.m. on April 27, 2012, he made M.W. a bottle, fed her, burped her, and changed her diaper. M.W. was crying and being very fussy. At approximately 5:30 p.m., defendant put M.W. in her swing next to his bed, where she took a nap. Defendant also took a nap at that time. When he woke up at approximately 7:30 or 8 p.m., defendant found M.W. somewhat unresponsive, “breathing real heavy,” and “gasping for air.” Around that same time, defendant's cousin arrived at the apartment because the two had planned to hang out that evening. Defendant called Taylor to tell her that he and his cousin were taking M.W. to the hospital. Taylor told defendant that she would come to the hospital at the end of her shift.

¶ 16 Defendant initially denied shaking or dropping M.W. at all, explaining to the detectives that he and Taylor were “pretty fragile” with M.W. The following exchange occurred:

“[JOHNSON]: Okay, well the injuries * * * would have happened today. They would have happened even tonight. And, I mean, the problem with it is * * * she's in your care.

[DEFENDANT]: Uh huh.

[JOHNSON]: Okay. And, I have kids, [Kincaid] has kids, and dude, it's tough. I'm not gonna sit here and bullshit you. I'm not gonna sit here and lie to you. And sometimes we make mistakes and, and accidents happen. And we don't mean to do them. And that's what they are. They're, they're accidents. It's not that you're intent to hurt your daughter. We know you didn't.

* * *

And you've got a screaming baby and * * * you just don't know what to do. You might set her down on the bed a little hard and that happens.

[DEFENDANT]: Yeah.

[JOHNSON]: And that's what could've done that. If we get a * * * little upset and we set her down on the bed a little hard or set her in the seat hard, that could've done it. But we've gotta figure out what did it so the doctors can help her and know what they need to do to fix it. Alright?

* * *

So, I mean, my question to you is could you accidentally shake her or set her down hard you think?

[DEFENDANT]: I, I don't never shake my baby at all, ever.

[JOHNSON]: I'm, not shake her, but if you set her down quick, I mean, babies, babies, their bodies, you know you could lay me down hard, you know what I mean, and I'd be ok. But babies, you set down hard and the momentum, the brain's not all the way full in their head and that could do it.

[DEFENDANT]: Yeah.

[JOHNSON]: You know?

[KINCAID]: Mark, what happened? Something happened tonight.

[DEFENDANT]: That, I mean I might have. But I, I don't think that I, you know, did anything harmful to her.”

¶ 17 After Kincaid pressed that something must have happened to M.W. during the time defendant was caring for her, defendant stated that he set M.W. down in her swing when she was fussing. When Johnson asked defendant if he set her down “kind of fast,” defendant stated, “hard, fast, yeah.” Defendant elaborated, as follows: “She kept screaming, so I set her down. You know, not super fast, not, not real gentle or nothing either though. I set her down in her swing. She was swinging for a while. I put her pacifier in.” Defendant stated that when he woke up, he noticed that M.W. was not “normal” and her breathing “wasn't right.”

¶ 18 Kincaid then told defendant that M.W. was showing injuries consistent with being shaken. He asked defendant to be honest. Defendant responded, “like I said, I woke up, went to go feed her, she was a little bit fussy. I shook her a little bit to wake her up a little bit.” (The interview video shows defendant physically demonstrating a gentle shaking, moving his hands back and forth a distance of one or two inches.) When Kincaid asked defendant to again demonstrate how he shook M.W., defendant stated, “You know, shook her, just a little bit. It wasn't like that [ (defendant physically demonstrated a violent shaking, moving his hands quickly back and forth approximately 10 to 12 inches) ]. I was, shook her a little bit [ (demonstrating a gentle shaking) ], she woke her eyes up. I fed her a little bit.” Defendant later stated, “She was a little bit fussy...