A St. Charles carnival worker is still guilty of first-degree murder though some jurors believed mitigating factors influenced him to stab an unwelcome visitor in 2008, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled in an opinion filed Thursday.
When Arthur Manning, now 67, stabbed Naromi Mannery, Manning was living with co-workers in a St. Charles house owned by their employer, Windy City Amusements, which had a policy banning guests, according to court filings.
The primary issue in the latest appeal was if a first-degree murder conviction should stand when jurors are unable to unanimously agree on whether a mitigating factor exists for second-degree murder.
“The legislature clearly intended that a defendant’s failure to sustain his burden — the burden of convincing all 12 jurors that a mitigating factor exists for purposes of second degree murder — does not nullify the jurors’ unanimous finding that the State has proven defendant guilty of first degree murder beyond a reasonable doubt,” the Illinois Supreme Court judges concluded.
Chief Justice Lloyd Karmeier delivered the judgment and opinion, with concurrence from Justices Charles Freeman, Robert Thomas, Thomas Kilbride, Rita Garman, Anne Burke and Mary Jane Theis.
Mike Tatman, a Kane County public defender who was Manning’s trial attorney, said on Manning’s behalf they were let down by Thursday’s ruling.
“We are disappointed,” Tatman said. “However, our office has the utmost respect of the Supreme Court and we are extremely grateful for the opportunity to be heard on this issue.”
Tatman declined further comment on the case or any precedent it might set. Manning’s appellate attorneys did not immediately return a message Thursday.
Second-degree murder can be charged the same way as any other felony. But most second-degree murder charges come about during cases originally charged as first-degree murder, Kane County State’s Attorney Joe McMahon said.
If the defense asks for the jury to be given the option of finding the defendant guilty of second-degree murder in a first-degree murder trial, , the jury can only consider the latter verdict after first determining the defendant committed first-degree murder, according to the Supreme Court.
The burden rests on the defendant to prove a mitigating factor was present to reduce a first-degree murder case to second-degree murder. Factors can include “sudden and intense passion” stemming from provocation by the person killed or unreasonably believing the circumstances justified or exonerated the killing.
When the court granted Manning’s request to have the jury instructed on second-degree murder, it was based on both an unreasonable belief in the need for self-defense and the provocation of mutual combat, according to the appellate court record.
Mannery was “highly intoxicated” and unwelcome at a home where Manning and at least five others were staying in 2008, according to background included in the ruling. Mannery was asked to leave, but wouldn’t go. He and four of the residents, including Manning, began to fight. Mannery was unarmed. Manning had a knife. During the fight, Mannery was stabbed three times, and ultimately died from a stab wound to his chest, according to the court.
The whole fight reportedly lasted about two minutes.
“Mannery stumbled down Main Street where his cries for help caught the attention of several witnesses who called 911,” according to the appellant brief, which states Mannery was unconscious by the time police and medics found him.
Two other men involved in the fight — Arthur’s brother, Guy Manning, and Willie Wimberly — were each sentenced to eight years in prison for aggravated battery, the Beacon-News reported.
Manning was charged with three counts of first-degree murder in 2008 Kane County jurors found him guilty of the charge for fatally stabbing Mannery, and a judge sentenced Manning to 29 years in Illinois prison. He appealed. The appellate court found the trial court wrongfully refused to instruct the jury on self-defense and reversed the conviction, sending his case back to the circuit court for a new trial.
Jurors at Manning’s second trial also convicted him of first-degree murder, sentencing him to 25 years. He appealed again, this time arguing the court erred in failing to give a direct answer on whether a non-unanimous second-degree murder vote meant the charge would “revert” to first-degree murder, and by refusing to specifically poll jurors on whether they believed that a mitigating factor existed.
The appellate court again sided mostly with Manning, stating in a March 2017 judgment that while considering the presence of a mitigating factor presupposes the jury already found the state proved the elements of first-degree murder, jurors who then vote to recognize a mitigating factor are returning a second-degree murder conviction.
“Thus, if some jurors vote to find the presence of a mitigating factor, and if other jurors vote otherwise, the jury is not unanimous on the defendant’s guilt of first-degree murder,” the appeals court stated.
Prosecutors appealed to the Supreme Court, which ultimately agreed to consider the case.
Coming from the high court, the decision has the effect of law throughout Illinois, making Manning’s an important case for judges and lawyers who practice in criminal courts, McMahon said.
“It clearly answers what the law is and how a jury should be instructed when they come back with the question, when they may not be unanimous on a mitigating factor,” McMahon said. “This Manning decision answers that very clearly and I am grateful for that … to have this clear direction, that’s beneficial to all of us.”
It also provides a sense of conclusion to Mannery’s family and the people of Kane County “on what was a violent offense in downtown St. Charles,” McMahon said.
“I’m pleased that the family of the victim will not have to go through another trial on the actions of Arthur Manning,” McMahon said.
Manning remains in custody at the Illinois River Correctional Center, where he is projected for parole in 2033.
