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People v. Boand9/30/2005
t be sufficient evidence in the record to support an instruction, lest the jury be confused by issues improperly before it." Pinkney, 322 Ill. App. 3d at 717.
Supreme Court Rule 451(a) provides that whenever the Illinois Pattern Jury Instructions (IPI) contain an applicable jury instruction, and the court determines that the jury should be instructed on the subject after giving due consideration to the facts and law, "the [IPI instruction] shall be used[ ] unless the court determines that it does not accurately state the law." 177 Ill. 2d R. 451(a). Where there is no IPI jury instruction on a subject on which the court determines the jury should be instructed, the court has the discretion to give a nonpattern instruction. People v. Ramey, 151 Ill. 2d 498, 536 (1992). A trial court's decision on whether to use a non-IPI instruction should not be disturbed absent an abuse of that discretion. People v. Pollock, 202 Ill. 2d 189, 211 (2002). Whether the court has abused its discretion in giving a particular instruction will depend on whether it was an accurate, simple, brief, impartial, and nonargumentative statement of the applicable law. 177 Ill. 2d R. 451(a); Pollock, 202 Ill. 2d at 211.
Defendant offered a non-IPI jury instruction that stated as follows:
"There is evidence that the deceased, Nicole Levin, expressed an intent to commit suicide shortly before her death. Suicide can be an intervening cause of death completely unrelated to the acts of the defendant. If you find that the deceased came to her death by her own conduct, her death was not caused by a criminal agency."
The trial court rejected defendant's instruction and instead used the cause-of-death instruction provided in Illinois Pattern Jury Instructions, Criminal , No. 7.15 (3d ed. 1992) (hereinafter IPI Criminal 3d). IPI Criminal 3d No. 7.15 states as follows:
"In order for you to find that the acts of the defendant caused the death of [the victim], the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant's acts were a contributing cause of the death and that the death did not result from a cause unconnected with the defendant. However, it is not necessary that you find the acts of the defendant were the sole and immediate cause of death."
Citing the testimony of Levin's father that his daughter did not appear suicidal on the night of her death, the State argues that there was "no evidence" to support defendant's proposed instruction regarding suicide as an intervening cause of death. However, the jury also learned that, during the four months preceding Levin's death, she ended her relationship with her boyfriend, she suffered a miscarriage, she was hospitalized four times for attempting suicide and intentionally overdosing on alcohol and prescription medication, and she injured herself and a passenger in a drug-and alcohol-related car accident. Shepherd testified that, on the night of Levin's death, she was noticeably upset about her failed relationship and the damage to her car. Shepherd also testified that Levin said that " he had nothing left to live for."
Causation is a question of fact that should be left to the trier of fact (People v. Brackett, 117 Ill. 2d 170, 177 (1987)), and the jury heard evidence that Levin was a victim of either homicide or suicide. Therefore, we agree with defendant that an instruction addressing her cause of death was appropriate, but we agree with the State that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in using IPI Criminal 3d No. 7.15.
Defendant's instruction, though simple and brief, is not impartial because it unnecessarily emphasizes Shepherd's testimony that Levin expressed an interest in committing sui
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