People v. Luckett

692 N.E.2d 1345, 295 Ill. App. 3d 342, 230 Ill. Dec. 179, 1998 Ill. App. LEXIS 196
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedMarch 30, 1998
Docket3-97-0183
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 692 N.E.2d 1345 (People v. Luckett) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Luckett, 692 N.E.2d 1345, 295 Ill. App. 3d 342, 230 Ill. Dec. 179, 1998 Ill. App. LEXIS 196 (Ill. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinion

PRESIDING JUSTICE McCUSKEY

delivered the opinion of the court:

Following a jury trial, the defendant, Robert D. Luckett, was found guilty of second degree murder (720 ILCS 5/9 — 2(a) (West 1996)). He was sentenced to 20 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections (DOC). On appeal, the defendant contends: (1) the jury’s verdicts of guilty of second degree murder and not guilty of aggravated battery with a firearm (720 ILCS 5/12 — 4.2(a) (West 1996)) are legally inconsistent; (2) the trial court erred in sentencing the defendant under the Unified Code of Corrections (Code) (730 ILCS 5/1— 1 — 1 et seq. (West 1996)) rather than the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 (Act) (705 ILCS 405/1 — 1 et seq. (West 1996)); and (3) his counsel was ineffective for failing to file a postsentencing motion. After carefully reviewing the record on appeal, we affirm.

At trial, the evidence showed that on August 7, 1996, the defendant and several of his friends were loitering around a convenience store when the victim pulled his truck into a nearby alley. The defendant and his friends approached the truck and began a conversation with the victim. One of the defendant's friends looked toward the defendant, who said to sell the victim some rock cocaine, he’s “OK.” The victim then purchased $20 of rock cocaine. At the end of the transaction, the defendant pulled a gun and fired a shot into the truck. The bullet struck the victim, killing him. According to the defendant, the victim owed him money from a previous drug sale. When the defendant reminded the victim of the debt, the victim bent over and appeared to be reaching for something under the seat in the vehicle. The defendant then jumped back from the window of the truck and fired into the cab to scare the victim.

The defendant was charged with first degree murder (720 ILCS 5/9 — 1(a)(2) (West 1996)), armed violence (720 ILCS 5/33A — 2 (West 1996)) and aggravated battery with a firearm (720 ILCS 5/12 — 4.2(a) (West 1996)). In addition to these offenses, the jury was instructed on second degree murder (720 ILCS 5/9 — 2 (West 1996)) and involuntary manslaughter (720 ILCS 5/9 — 3 (West 1996)). The jury found the defendant not guilty of armed violence and aggravated battery with a firearm but guilty of second degree murder.

Following the trial, the State moved to sentence the defendant as an adult rather than a juvenile. The State’s motion was granted over the defendant’s objection.

At the sentencing hearing, the presentence report indicated that the defendant was 15 years old. He had been expelled from eighth grade for nonattendance. However, the defendant was performing well in the freshman-level classes he was taking at the juvenile detention center. The report showed that the defendant’s sole prior conviction was for a traffic offense.

In aggravation, the State presented the testimony of several individuals. One witness testified that the defendant had stolen his bicycle. Another witness testified that the defendant had stolen her car. Other witnesses testified concerning the defendant’s involvement in another drug-related shooting death. At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial judge sentenced the defendant to 20 years in the DOC.

The defendant initially argues on appeal that the jury rendered legally inconsistent verdicts when it found the defendant guilty of second degree murder and not guilty of aggravated battery with a firearm. The defendant claims that these inconsistent verdicts cannot be reconciled under the law of the State of Illinois.

Legally inconsistent verdicts occur when the charged offenses arise out of the same set of facts and, by acquitting the defendant of one offense while convicting him of the other, the jury necessarily finds both the existence and nonexistence of an identical element of each offense. People v. Austin, 264 Ill. App. 3d 976, 979, 637 N.E.2d 585, 587 (1994). As a general rule, verdicts that convict and acquit a defendant of crimes composed of different elements, but arising out of the same set of facts, are not legally inconsistent. People v. Klingenberg, 172 Ill. 2d 270, 274, 665 N.E.2d 1370, 1373 (1996).

A defendant commits the offense of second degree murder when he commits the offense of first degree murder but acts under a sudden or intense passion resulting from serious provocation or an unreasonable belief that the circumstances justified his conduct. 720 ILCS 5/9 — 2(a) (West 1996). A defendant commits first degree murder when he: (1) performed the act which caused the death of the victim without lawful justification; and (2) knew that his act created a strong probability of death or great bodily harm to the victim. 720 ILCS 5/9 — 1(a)(2) (West 1996). A defendant commits aggravated battery with a firearm when he “in committing a battery, knowingly or intentionally by means of the discharging of a firearm *** causes any injury to another person.” 720 ILCS 5/12 — 4.2(a) (West 1996).

It is clear that the offenses of second degree murder and aggravated battery with a firearm contain at least one differing element. Aggravated battery with a firearm requires the defendant to knowingly cause an injury to the victim. Second degree murder does not require the defendant to know that he has or will injure the victim; it requires only that he know that his act creates a strong probability of death or great bodily harm. In addition, second degree murder requires that the defendant’s act be the result of sudden and intense passion or an unreasonable belief that the defendant’s acts were justified.

Here, in the instant case, it appears that the jury believed the defendant’s story about shooting into the cab for the sole purpose of scaring the victim. The jury apparently believed that the defendant was not aware that his shot would injure or harm the victim. As a consequence, the jury found the defendant not guilty of aggravated battery with a firearm. Nevertheless, the defendant did know that shooting a bullet into the truck created a strong probability of death or great bodily harm even if the defendant maintained his unreasonable belief that his conduct was justified. Moreover, in this case, the defendant’s act of shooting into the cab caused the victim’s death. As a result, the jury properly found the defendant guilty of second degree murder. From our review, we conclude that the jury verdicts of not guilty of aggravated battery with a firearm and guilty of second degree murder are not legally inconsistent under the applicable law of this state.

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Bluebook (online)
692 N.E.2d 1345, 295 Ill. App. 3d 342, 230 Ill. Dec. 179, 1998 Ill. App. LEXIS 196, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-luckett-illappct-1998.