People v. Brown, 2015 IL App (1st) 131552

Brown convicted of felony murder for a July 3, 2008 residential burglary in Chicago and an ensuing fatal crash during an escape with codefendant Jones.
Jones drove recklessly, failing to stop at intersections, which caused a fatal collision that killed Tommye Freeman.
Jury asked for a definition of foreseeability; defense consented to not giving a definition and the court advised continuing deliberations.
Evidence linked Brown to burglary and the stolen property; DNA and fingerprints connected co-defendant Jones to the SUV and Brown to the crime scene; Brown made incriminating statements.
Defense argued foreseeability was not proven and that the jury was not properly defined; trial strategy centered on using common sense and avoiding federal style definition; the court used a dictionary definition during deliberations but ultimately instructed to continue deliberations.
Court affirmed Brown’s conviction and held defense counsel’s decision not to define foreseeability constituted reasonable trial strategy; ineffective assistance claim rejected.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Foreseeability sufficiency for felony murder	Brown	Brown	Guilty; foreseeability supported by chain of events
Proximate cause/chain of events standard	State	Brown	Liability for death during escape properly presumed
Ineffective assistance for not defining foreseeability	State	Brown	No; strategy-based decision not ineffective
Jury instruction/response to jury note on foreseeability	State	Brown	Instruction adequate; no error in denying additional definition

People v. Lowery, 178 Ill. 2d 462 (Ill. 1997) (proximate cause and felony murder liability scope)
People v. Hickman, 59 Ill. 2d 89 (Ill. 1974) (death as a foreseeable consequence of burglary escape)
People v. Klebanowski, 221 Ill. 2d 538 (Ill. 2006) (proximity of events and liability for ensuing deaths)
People v. Hudson, 354 Ill. App. 3d 648 (Ill. App. 2004) (proximate cause and jury instructions for felony murder)