In re APPLICATION OF TED S. CHARLTON
Case summary
The claimant sought funeral expenses under the Crime Victims Compensation Act after his daughter was accidentally shot and killed. The court initially denied the claim because involuntary manslaughter was not a covered crime, but on review found that reckless conduct, a covered crime, was also involved, and awarded $3,000 for funeral expenses.
Statutes cited: Ill. Rev. Stat. (1987), ch. 70, par. 71, et seq.; Section 2(c) of the Act; Section 2(h) of the Act
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Headnotes
- CRIME VICTIMS COMPENSATION ACT-death as result of violent crimevictim’s father awarded funeral and burial expenses. Although the Court of Claims initially denied a father’s claim seeking payment for his daughter’s funeral and burial expenses because the crimes of involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct, of which the offender was convicted, were not among the specifically enumerated crimes under section 2(c) of the Crime Victims Compensation Act, upon review the Court awarded the father the maximum amount allowable for such expenses, since reckless conduct is in fact a crime for which compensation is available.
ORDER
POCH, J.
This claim arises out of an incident that occurred on April 30, 1988. Ted S. Charlton, father of the deceased victim, Angela Charlton, seeks compensation pursuant to the provisions of the Crime Victims Compensation Act, hereafter referred to as the Act. Ill. Rev. Stat. (1987), ch. 70, par. 71, et seq.
This Court has carefully considered the application for benefits submitted on February 14, 1989, on the form prescribed by the Attorney General, and an investigatory report of the Attorney General of Illinois which substantiates matters set forth in the application. Based upon these documents and other evidence submitted to the Court, the Court finds:
1. That on April 30, 1988, the victim was accidentally shot by an offender who was known to her. The inci[*588]dent occurred in an apartment located at 515 South Pearl, Salem, Illinois. Police investigation revealed that prior to the incident, the offender was assembling the components of a shotgun, when the weapon discharged and struck the victim in the chest. The Marion County Coroner’s Office ruled the death of the victim to be an accident. The offender was apprehended, prosecuted and convicted of involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct.
2. That in order for a Claimant to be eligible for compensation under the Act, there must be evidence that one of the violent crimes specifically set forth under section 2(c) of the Act occurred.
3. That involuntary manslaughter is not one of the violent crimes specifically set forth under section 2(c) of the Act.
4. That the Claimant has not met a required condition precedent for compensation under the Act.
It is hereby ordered that this claim be, and is hereby denied.
OPINION
FREDERICK, J.
This claim arises out of an incident that occurred on April 30, 1988. Claimant, Ted S. Charlton, father of the deceased victim, Angela Charlton, seeks compensation pursuant to the provisions of the Crime Victims Compensation Act, hereafter referred to as the “Act.” Ill. Rev. Stat. (1987), ch. 70, par. 71, et seq.
The Court file reflects that on February 14, 1989, a “Notice of Intent to File a Claim” was filed herein on behalf of applicant, Ted S. Charlton, arising from the death of alleged victim, Angela Charlton, on April 30, 1988.
[*589] The notice reflected that Angela Charlton was killed by a shotgun blast at close range. It was alleged that the assailant was loading a shotgun in preparation for the return of individuals with whom the assailant had had an argument during a drinking party.
The investigatory report of the Attorney General’s Office noticed that the offender, James Renfro, was apprehended, prosecuted and convicted of involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct. The investigatory report concluded that involuntary manslaughter was not one of the violent crimes specifically set forth under section 2(c) of the Act, and that therefore, the Claimant had not met a required condition precedent for compensation under the Act.
This Court followed the recommendation of the investigatory report and ruled that the Claimant had not met a required condition precedent for compensation under the Act and denied the claim on March 5, 1990.
A review of this Court’s decision was sought by Claimant, Ted S. Charlton. At the hearing conducted by Commissioner Rath, the facts in evidence mirrored those facts set forth in the investigatory report of the Attorney General and in this Court’s prior order. However, since the entry of the order denying the claim, this Court in In re Application of Catherine Smith (1992), 45 Ill. Ct. Cl. 520 (unreported opinion entered on October 30, 1992, 90 CV 977), held that circumstances similar to those extant in the case at bar “met the criteria for reckless conduct” which was found to be a crime specifically included in the Crime Victims Compensation Act.
In the case at bar, the assailant was convicted of both involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct arising from the death of Angela M. Charlton on April 30, 1988.
[*590] We therefore find:
(1) That on April 30, 1988, the victim was accidentally shot by an offender who was known to her. The incident occurred in an apartment located at 515 S. Pearl, Salem, Illinois. Police investigation revealed that prior to the incident, the offender was assembling the components of a shotgun, when the weapon discharged and struck the victim in the chest. The Marion County Coroner’s Office ruled the death of the victim to be an accident. The offender was apprehended, prosecuted and convicted of involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct.
(2) That reckless conduct is one of the violent crimes specifically set forth under Section 2(c) of the Act.
(3) That the Claimant has met the required conditions precedent for compensation under the Act.
(4) That the burial expenses of Angela Charlton were in the sum of $4,478.62. These expenses were paid in full by Angela’s parents.
(5) That the Claimant seeks only the funeral expenses incurred by the family in the sum of $4,478.62 paid by Claimant, Ted Charlton, to the Rogers-Atkins Funeral Home in Salem, Illinois.
(6) That no loss of support is claimed. The victim was not employed during the six months prior to the injury.
(7) That no civil suit was filed or intended against the assailant or any third party arising from the death of Angela Charlton.
(8) That section 2(h) of the Act states that a maximum of $3,000 may be awarded, in the case of death, for funeral and burial expenses.
[*591] It is therefore ordered that Claimant, Ted S. Charlton, is awarded the sum of $3,000 for funeral expenses for the deceased victim pursuant to the Illinois Crime Victims Compensation Act.