People v. Kessler

460 N.E.2d 746 (1974)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Ronald Terry and Duane Terry (Ds) along with Timothy Davis, Ricky Myers, and Bernard Lash, were at Priscilla Lyons' apartment in Chicago. All five were members of a Chicago street gang. A fistfight between Davis and Ronald Terry took place. After the fight stopped, Ronald Terry said to Myers, 'we are going to violate Davis,' to which Myers replied that he 'was going to kill him a nigger.' Both Ds saw Myers take a knife from the kitchen in Lyons' apartment. Ronald Terry stated that he knew that Myers intended to 'cut Timothy Davis with the knife.' The five men went into the hallway, where they commenced attacking Davis. Duane Terry and Lash 'violated' Davis by pulling and hitting him and then held Davis while Ronald Terry 'violated' him by punching him in the face and chest. Myers tapped Ronald Terry on the shoulder, and Terry stepped aside. Myers then stabbed Davis twice with the knife that he had taken from Lyons' apartment. Davis later died from a stab wound to his chest which punctured the left thorax. At trial, P used a felony-murder example to illustrate the law of accountability. He stated, 'the getaway driver in an armed robbery, where the guy goes into the bank and sticks up the teller, and he kills the teller, the getaway driver is guilty of armed robbery and murder.' The jury was instructed as follows: 'A person is responsible for the conduct of another when, either before or during the commission of a crime, and with the intent to promote or facilitate the commission of a crime, he knowingly solicits, aids, abets, agrees or attempts to aid the other person in the planning or commission of a crime.' Ds were found guilty and appealed. The appellate court found that P proved, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Ds aided and abetted Myers in murdering Davis. The court held that the instruction setting forth the law of accountability was inaccurate. It reasoned, 'defendants could not be found guilty of murder unless the jury was satisfied that in committing a battery on the victim, defendants had the intent to promote or facilitate the murder and knowingly aided or abetted Myers in committing murder.' P appealed.