People v. Collins, 55 N.E.3d 764

On Sept. 29, 2010, Amir (a gas-station attendant) was shot during an attempted robbery at a Marathon station; surveillance video and physical evidence tied the incident to defendant Willie Collins and two codefendants.
Collins admitted in statements that he and codefendants planned a robbery and that his role was to get the attendant to open the bulletproof window using a code word; he said he called 911 after the shooting.
Witnesses (Taylor Chapman, Alexis Pratt, Keiara Boyd) testified that DeAnthony Pearson displayed a handgun earlier in Allen’s garage, pointed it at people (including Collins), and made threats.
Collins testified he was scared and forced by Pearson in the garage (who said he would “knock a patch” in Collins’s head), but the actual robbery and shooting occurred hours later after planning and a dry run.
The trial court denied Collins’s requested jury instruction on the affirmative defense of compulsion, finding the threat was not imminent and Collins had opportunities to withdraw; the court also excluded portions of Chapman’s testimony as hearsay.
The jury convicted Collins of aggravated battery with a firearm and attempted armed robbery; Collins appealed, challenging the denial of the compulsion instruction and the hearsay ruling.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether trial court erred by refusing compulsion instruction	State: evidence did not show threat was imminent and Collins had opportunities to withdraw	Collins: threats in garage (gun, explicit threats) showed compulsion and supported instruction	Denied. Court held threat was not shown to be imminent and Collins had ample opportunity to withdraw, so compulsion instruction not warranted
Whether exclusion of Chapman’s testimony about Pearson’s threats was erroneous hearsay ruling	State: Chapman’s out-of-court statements were hearsay and not admissible to prove truth	Collins: statements show his state of mind and support compulsion defense	No reversible error. Issue was forfeited by inadequate briefing; court also found the hearsay-exception argument inapplicable and any error harmless because similar testimony and Collins’s own statements covered the threats

People v. Pegram, 124 Ill. 2d 166 (1988) (compulsion instruction supported where defendant threatened with gun and forced to participate continuously)
People v. Colone, 56 Ill. App. 3d 1018 (1978) (failure to notify police or withdraw demonstrates absence of compulsion)
People v. Scherzer, 179 Ill. App. 3d 624 (1989) (compulsion unavailable if ample opportunity to withdraw)
People v. Redmond, 59 Ill. 2d 328 (1974) (some evidence required to raise compulsion issue)
People v. Sims, 374 Ill. App. 3d 231 (2007) (compulsion supported where threat was immediate before crime)
People v. Adcock, 29 Ill. App. 3d 917 (1975) (earlier case allowing compulsion evidence without withdrawal analysis)
People v. Floyd, 103 Ill. 2d 541 (1984) (hearsay exception for declarant’s state of mind is narrowly applied)
People v. Jackson, 100 Ill. App. 3d 1064 (1981) (threat of future injury is insufficient for compulsion)
People v. Colone, 56 Ill. App. 3d 1018 (1978) (withdrawal opportunities negate compulsion)