People v. Chatman

              No. 2--06--0384 Filed: 4-11-08
______________________________________________________________________________
IN THE
APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS
SECOND DISTRICT
______________________________________________________________________________
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE ) Appeal from the Circuit Court
OF ILLINOIS, ) of Kane County.
)
Plaintiff-Appellee, ))
v. ) No. 04--CF--2430
)
JONATHAN CHATMAN, ) Honorable
) James C. Hallock,
Defendant-Appellant. ) Judge, Presiding.
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JUSTICE O'MALLEY delivered the opinion of the court:
Defendant, Jonathan Chatman, appeals his convictions of aggravated domestic battery (720
ILCS 5/12--3.3 (West 2002)) and domestic battery (720 5/12--3.2 (West 2002)) arising out of an
altercation with his cousin, Deetra Chatman. He argues that the trial court's submission of Illinois
Pattern Jury Instructions, Criminal, No. 24--25.09 (4th ed. 2000) (hereinafter IPI Criminal 4th),
entitled "Initial Aggressor's Use of Force," was erroneous because (1) the evidence did not warrant
any instruction on self-defense and (2) the submission of IPI Criminal 4th No. 24--25.09, without
additional instructions, assumed that defendant was the initial aggressor even though there had been
no prior finding or stipulation on that issue. We agree with defendant and reverse and remand.
BACKGROUND
Defendant quarreled with Deetra at a family gathering in Aurora on August 14, 2004. The