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People v. Boand9/30/2005
statement on direct examination, but the court barred any cross-examination regarding the first statement. The defendant appealed, arguing that the completeness doctrine permitted the introduction of the first statement in which he denied involvement in the crime. The Appellate Court, First District, held that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in excluding the first statement because the two conversations lacked "unity of time and participants." Brown, 249 Ill. App. 3d at 991.
This case is distinguishable from Brown. Unlike the witness in Brown, Goldman was a party to all of the conversations at issue here. Furthermore, we disagree with defendant's contention that the third conversation was unrelated to the other two conversations. Although the three conversations occurred during a one-week period, the trial court viewed the three conversations as a single contemporaneous discussion of Levin's death. The court broadly labeled the topic of Goldman's direct examination as "conversations through phones calls," and in fact, the conversation to which defendant objected occurred between the other two conversations. Furthermore, Goldman's testimony regarding defendant's influence over Shepherd during the third conversation explains the inconsistencies in the testimony of Goldman and Shepherd. In light of the latitude afforded to the trial court in defining the scope of cross-examination, we conclude that the court did not abuse its discretion in permitting Goldman to testify to the third conversation.
We reject defendant's contention that People v. Hosty, 146 Ill. App. 3d 876 (1986), compels a different result. In Hosty, the witness, who lived with the defendant for a time, came forward with information regarding a murder. The witness had several conversations with the defendant in her home. She testified to conversations she had with the defendant from the date of the murder until the date on which the police placed audio recording devices in her home. The defendant visited the witness's home once or twice after the surveillance equipment was installed, but the trial court barred any cross-examination of the witness regarding those conversations. Hosty, 146 Ill. App. 3d at 880.
The defendant appealed, arguing that the completeness doctrine entitled him to use cross-examination to introduce his allegedly exculpatory statements that the police recorded. The Appellate Court, First District, held that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in barring the cross-examination. Hosty, 146 Ill. App. 3d at 883. Concluding that the cross-examination would have exceeded the direct examination, the appellate court emphasized that the witness testified to a discrete period during which she spoke with defendant and that the excluded conversations occurred after that period. Hosty, 146 Ill. App. 3d at 883. In this case, Goldman testified to conversations that occurred during a one-week period, and the third conversation between Goldman and Shepherd occurred during that period. Therefore, this case is factually distinguishable from Hosty.
F. Jury Instructions.
One of defendant's theories of the case is that Levin deliberately overdosed to commit suicide. Thus, defendant contends that the trial court erred in rejecting his nonpattern jury instruction that stated that suicide is an intervening cause of death that could relieve defendant of criminal liability. The purpose of jury instructions is to provide the jurors with the legal principles that apply to the evidence so they can reach a correct verdict. People v. Hopp, 209 Ill. 2d 1, 8 (2004). "Jury instructions should not be misleading or confusing." People v. Pinkney, 322 Ill. App. 3d 707, 717 (2000). " here mus
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