(DOWNLOAD) "People v. Suerth" by Illinois Appellate Court — First District (4Th Division) Reversed and Remanded " eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: People v. Suerth
- Author : Illinois Appellate Court — First District (4Th Division) Reversed and Remanded
- Release Date : January 25, 1981
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 63 KB
Description
Defendant, Donald J. Suerth, was charged in a four-count information: counts one and two, murder (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1977, ch. 38, pars. 9-1(a)(1), 9-1(a)(2)); count three, armed violence, alleging the underlying offense of murder (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1977, ch. 38, par. 33A-2); and count four, armed violence, alleging that he committed the underlying offense of voluntary manslaughter (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1977, ch. 38, pars. 33A-2, 9-2(a)(1)). The trial court directed a finding of not guilty as to count four and the jury acquitted defendant of the offenses of murder but found him guilty of the lesser included offense of involuntary manslaughter and the offense of armed violence. Defendant was sentenced to a period of 6 years on the offense of armed violence and to 2 years on the offense of involuntary manslaughter, the sentences to run concurrently. On appeal, the defendant presents the following issues for review: (1) whether the evidence is sufficient to support a conviction; (2) whether the convictions for involuntary manslaughter and armed violence are invalid because the jury was not properly instructed that an element of the offense of involuntary manslaughter is whether defendant was acting with lawful justification; (3) whether count three can support a conviction founded upon defendant committing involuntary manslaughter while armed; (4) whether the jury was improperly instructed on defendant's right to use deadly force to prevent a forcible felony; (5) whether the court erroneously excluded evidence of facts relevant to the jurors' determination of whether defendant acted reasonably when, after hearing strange noises outside his apartment at 5 a.m., he proceeded downstairs, armed; (6) whether the defendant was denied his constitutional right of confrontation when the trial court prevented him from impeaching the State's occurrence witness with a prior inconsistent statement; (7) whether defendant was denied his constitutional right to a fair trial where the prosecutor displayed a weapon not used in the offense; (8) whether defendant was denied a fair trial where the court prevented him from presenting evidence that immediately after the shooting he called the police and reported that he shot a burglar; and (9) whether the conviction for armed violence must be vacated and whether any sentence can be imposed thereon because the offenses of involuntary manslaughter and armed violence arose from the same act. Lawrence Stumbaugh testified that he had met Michael Burke, the victim, the summer of 1978 and did not see him again until January 25, 1979. The witness had spent the night bar-hopping, consuming about 19 beers and smoking one or two marijuana cigarettes. He then went to the Golden Nugget restaurant on the corner of Clark Street at Devon, in Chicago, to drink coffee and eat. Around 4:30 a.m., Burke staggered into the restaurant, drunk, and sat down with Stumbaugh. They were together drinking coffee for about 20 minutes. He asked Burke whether he wanted to smoke some marijuana; Burke answered affirmatively.
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