## Facts

- Rudolph Louis Kessler traveled from Rockford to Chicago and met with Ronald Mass and Rodney Abney the day before the crimes.
- During discussions, Kessler learned Mass was seeking a firearm; Mass also obtained a screwdriver while Abney obtained one as well.
- Mass indicated he needed money; Kessler suggested the Anchor Tap in Rockford as a target based on his prior work there and his observation that it held substantial cash.
- The three drove to the Anchor Tap late at night; Mass and Abney entered, used restroom access to set up a later entry route, returned to Kessler waiting in the car, and then came back after visiting another bar.
- Mass and Abney entered the tavern to burglarize it while Kessler remained in the car nearby.
- The tavern owner surprised the burglars inside; one burglar shot and wounded the owner using a gun taken during the burglary.
- Mass and Abney fled to the waiting car; a police chase followed, the car crashed, and Mass and Abney fled on foot.
- During the pursuit, one fleeing burglar fired a shot at a pursuing police officer while Kessler remained in or near the car.
- At trial, Kessler admitted accompanying the others and waiting in the car but argued he did not know they were armed and did not intend to aid any attempted murder.

## Issues

1. Whether a defendant who intentionally aids a common design to commit burglary may be held accountable for attempted murders committed by accomplices during the burglary and ensuing escape, even if the defendant did not shoot and did not specifically intend to kill.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of Illinois allowed the State’s appeal from the appellate court’s reversal of the attempted-murder convictions.
- The court affirmed the burglary conviction.
- The court reversed the appellate court’s reversal of the attempted-murder convictions and reinstated the trial court’s two attempted-murder convictions.
- The court held that Kessler’s participation in planning and executing the burglary supported accountability for the attempted murders committed by his accomplices in furtherance of the burglary and flight.

## Legal Principles

- Under Illinois accountability law, a person is legally accountable for another’s “conduct” when, before or during the offense, and with intent to promote or facilitate its commission, the person solicits, aids, abets, agrees to aid, or attempts to aid the other in planning or committing the offense.
- “Conduct” for accountability purposes includes criminal acts committed in furtherance of the planned and intended offense, not solely the elemental acts constituting the target offense.
- When multiple offenders act pursuant to a common criminal design, acts committed by one in furtherance of that design are treated as the acts of all participants, making each responsible for those acts.
- Mere presence is insufficient for accountability, but presence combined with evidence of assent and assistance in the criminal design can support a finding that the defendant aided and abetted.
- For collateral crimes committed in furtherance of the common design, the State need not prove the defendant had an independent, specific intent to commit the collateral offense if the defendant intentionally promoted or facilitated the underlying planned offense and the collateral offense was committed in furtherance of that plan.

## Conclusion

The court reinstated Kessler’s attempted-murder convictions, ruling that his intentional participation in the planned burglary made him accountable for attempted killings committed by his accomplices during the burglary and escape as acts in furtherance of the common design.


People v. Kessler, 57 Ill. 2d 493, 315 N.E.2d 29 (Ill. 1974)