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Keywords

defendantappeal

Related Cases

People v. Chevalier, 131 Ill.2d 66, 544 N.E.2d 942, 136 Ill.Dec. 167

Facts

In each case, the defendants shot and killed their wives after arguments related to suspected infidelity. The defendants did not dispute the killings or claim legal justification. They argued that the evidence warranted a jury instruction on voluntary manslaughter due to provocation from the victims' admissions of adultery and disparaging remarks. The appellate court reversed the convictions, leading to the State's petitions for leave to appeal.

Although the details differ, the circumstances surrounding the killings are similar. In each, defendant suspected his wife of marital infidelity. Just prior to the killing, the defendant and the victim had an argument, during which the victim admitted committing adultery and either disparaged the defendant's sexual abilities or flaunted the fact that she slept with her lover in the marital bed.

Issue

Whether the provocation on the part of the victims was legally adequate to reduce the homicides from murder to voluntary manslaughter.

The issue common to both appeals is whether the provocation on the part of the victim was legally adequate to reduce the homicide from murder to voluntary manslaughter.

Rule

Serious provocation is conduct sufficient to excite an intense passion in a reasonable person, and the only recognized categories of serious provocation include substantial physical injury, mutual quarrel or combat, illegal arrest, and adultery with the offender's spouse, but not mere words or gestures.

At the time of the offenses, section 9-2 of the Criminal Code of 1961 provided as follows: 'A person who kills an individual without lawful justification commits voluntary manslaughter if at the time of the killing he is acting under a sudden and intense passion resulting from serious provocation by: (1) The individual killed[.] Serious provocation is conduct sufficient to excite an intense passion in a reasonable person.'

Analysis

The court analyzed the provocation claims and determined that the defendants' circumstances did not meet the legal standard for serious provocation. The court emphasized that mere words, even if insulting or abusive, do not constitute sufficient provocation to reduce a murder charge to voluntary manslaughter. The court rejected the appellate court's reliance on previous cases that suggested otherwise, reaffirming that provocation must be of a certain legal threshold.

The appellate court decisions in the cases at bar, in concluding that defendants were entitled to the requested instruction, followed People v. Ambro (1987), 153 Ill.App.3d 1, 106 Ill.Dec. 75, 505 N.E.2d 381, which in turn relied on People v. Ahlberg (1973), 13 Ill.App.3d 1038, 301 N.E.2d 608, and People v. Carr (1980), 91 Ill.App.3d 512, 46 Ill.Dec. 955, 414 N.E.2d 1108.

Conclusion

The Supreme Court reversed the judgments of the appellate court, reinstating the murder convictions of both defendants, as the claimed provocation was insufficient as a matter of law.

For these reasons, we hold that in each of the cases before us, the provocation claimed was, as a matter of law, insufficient to constitute the serious provocation necessary to reduce the homicide from murder to voluntary manslaughter.

Who won?

The State prevailed in the case, as the Supreme Court found that the defendants' claims of provocation did not meet the legal standard necessary to reduce their charges from murder to voluntary manslaughter.

Appellate court reversed; Circuit Courts affirmed.

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