Court of Appeals of Illinois, First District, First Division
Appeal
from the Circuit Court of Cook County No. 13 CR 9104
Honorable Mary Margaret Brosnahan, Judge Presiding.
JUSTICE PIERCE delivered the judgment of the court, with
opinion. Justice Hyman and Justice Walker concurred in the
judgment and opinion.
OPINION
PIERCE
JUSTICE
¶
1 Defendant, Nelson Washington, was convicted of aggravated
battery with a firearm and reckless conduct and was sentenced
to a term of 18 years' imprisonment. Defendant now
appeals and argues: 1) he is entitled to a new trial because
the jury instructions resulted in legally inconsistent
verdicts; 2) the trial court erred when it refused to
instruct the jury after the jury requested the definition of
the word "knowingly" for the aggravated battery
with a firearm count; and 3) the trial court erred when it
refused to instruct the jury on self-defense when there was
evidence to support defendant's reasonable belief that
unlawful force was threatened against him or another and the
force he used in response was necessary to avert harm to
himself or others. For the following reasons, we reverse and
remand for a new trial.
¶
2 BACKGROUND
¶
3 Defendant was charged under indictment with two counts of
attempt first degree murder and one count of aggravated
battery with a firearm based on the act of discharging a
firearm and causing the paralysis of John Pipkin. Following a
jury trial, defendant was convicted of reckless conduct, a
lesser offense of attempt first degree murder, and aggravated
battery with a firearm. He was sentenced to 18 years'
imprisonment on the aggravated battery with a firearm
conviction.
¶
4 Pipkin testified that he had a party at his second-floor
apartment at 5719 South Ada in Chicago on April 14, 2013.
Pipkin was drinking and smoking marijuana and playing video
games when he made a comment about Andre Lewis, which Lewis
may or may not have overheard. Lewis entered the room and
Pipkin started laughing at him. According to Pipkin, Lewis
then said "what you laughing at, bitch?" Pipkin
responded by telling Lewis to watch his mouth. Lewis cussed
at Pipkin a second time and a fist fight ensued in the
kitchen.
¶
5 Pipkin, being the larger of the two men, ended up on top of
Lewis. People at the party tried to break up the fight,
including Washington who pulled Pipkin off of Lewis and then
punched Pipkin in the face. Lewis and Washington ran out of
the apartment and Pipkin chased after them. In an effort to
stop him from going after Lewis and Washington, Pipkin's
girlfriend, Octavia Addison, threw a cup of water on the
floor and on the interior flight of stairs. Pipkin slid down
the stairs but eventually made it outside.
¶
6 Lewis was standing on the sidewalk yelling at Pipkin to
come and fight. Pipkin obliged and he and Lewis started fist
fighting. Pipkin knocked Lewis down and heard Washington say,
"What's up now, bitch-ass nigga?" Pipkin turned
around and saw Washington draw a gun from his hoodie and put
the gun to Pipkin's neck. Pipkin responded, "I
ain't scared, shoot." Pipkin testified that he was
just standing there, he heard the gun go off and then he fell
to the ground. Once he fell to the ground, he could hear
people telling him to get up but he could not move.
¶
7 Pipkin was taken to the hospital, where he stayed for about
a month before being transferred to a rehabilitation
facility. He is wheelchair bound and cannot move his legs or
the fingers of his right hand.
¶
8 Elaine Leslie was at the party and watched the events
outside from the apartment window. She saw Lewis and
defendant confront Pipkin outside and saw defendant pull a
gun from his pants and point it at Pipkin's neck. Pipkin
told defendant, "bust that bitch, I'm not
scared." Elaine sprinted down the stairwell but stopped
halfway when she heard a gunshot. She was too scared to go
outside because she was afraid defendant was going to shoot
her. After defendant ran off, she went outside and asked
Pipkin if he was hurt. He responded that he was and thought
that he had been shot in the neck. She tried to stop the
bleeding. Elaine saw defendant run towards his house and pass
an object to another party-goer outside.
¶
9 Elaine spoke with police officers and recounted what she
saw and heard. She told them she only saw the barrel of the
gun because defendant gripped the rest of the gun in his
right hand. She identified defendant and Lewis from a photo
array.
¶
10 Brian Connors, a Chicago fire department paramedic,
arrived on the scene and found Pipkin with a gunshot wound to
his neck. Pipkin was transported to Stroger hospital for
treatment.
¶
11 Dr. Anthony Dennis, a trauma surgeon at Stroger hospital,
evaluated Pipkin and determined that Pipkin suffered a
partially ...