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People v. Boand9/30/2005
a forcible felony sets in motion a chain of events which were or should have been within his contemplation when the motion was initiated, he should be held responsible for any death which by direct and almost inevitable sequence results from the initial criminal act." People v. Lowery, 178 Ill. 2d 462, 467 (1997) (affirming the defendant's felony murder conviction as reasonably foreseeable where the intended victim of an armed robbery shot and killed an innocent bystander). Under the proximate cause theory of criminal liability, "liability attaches 'for any death proximately resulting from the unlawful activity.' " People v. Dekens, 182 Ill. 2d 247, 249 (1998), quoting Lowery, 178 Ill. 2d at 465.
Defendant argues that the drug-induced-homicide statute is unconstitutional because " n contrast to the felony murder statute, the drug-induced-homicide statute lacks any requirement that the death arise as a 'foreseeable consequence' or proximate result of the defendant's 'inherently dangerous' conduct, but instead criminalizes any death of any person who uses any quantity of drugs provided by the defendant in violation of section 401 of [the Act]." The State responds that, because the drug-induced-homicide and felony-murder statutes similarly incorporate the mental state of their respective underlying offenses, we should also read the proximate cause element of the felony murder statute into the offense of drug-induced homicide. We hold that the drug-induced-homicide statute is satisfied by a showing that the death was proximately caused by the delivery of the controlled substance.
We note that the evidence presented at trial supports a finding that defendant's knowing delivery of the methadone proximately caused Levin's death. See Bailey, 167 Ill. 2d at 228 (to prevail on a vagueness challenge to a statute that does not implicate first amendment concerns, a party must demonstrate that the statute is vague as applied to the conduct for which the party was prosecuted); see also Johns, 345 Ill. App. 3d at 242 (Illinois adheres to a proximate cause approach to felony-murder liability). Shepherd testified that the four sat in defendant's living room, where defendant retrieved several bottles of methadone from a hollowed-out book and a gray lockbox. Defendant placed the bottles on a glass table and told the group that the bottles contained methadone and that methadone is a safer form of heroin. According to Shepherd, Levin drank one bottle and then the remaining portion of another that Shepherd rejected. Hoerer corroborated this portion of Shepherd's testimony. Moreover, a medical expert testified that Levin died of cocaine and methadone intoxication. Defendant contends that Levin's death was not proximately caused by his conduct because he did not "encourage" Levin to ingest the methadone. However, the evidence presented is sufficient to sustain the conviction because the State was required to prove only that defendant's delivery of methadone was "knowing." We conclude that, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, any rational jury could find beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant's knowing delivery of the methadone proximately caused Levin's death.
III. CONCLUSION
While the evidence was not overwhelming, the evidence was sufficient to sustain convictions of criminal sexual assault and of drug-induced homicide or involuntary manslaughter. Based on a thorough review of the record, we cannot say, viewing all of the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, that defendant has demonstrated that the evidence was so unreasonable, improbable, or unsatisfactory as to create a reasonable doubt of his guilt. For the preceding reasons, the judgmen
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