People v. Hopp

Defendant, Tiffany Hopp, was found guilty by a jury of conspiracy to commit first degree murder. The appellate court reversed her conviction on the ground that the trial court committed plain error when it failed to give sua sponte a required jury instruction defining first degree murder. 336 Ill. App. 3d 523. We allowed the State’s petition for leave to appeal. 177 Ill. 2d R. 315. We now reverse and affirm defendant’s conviction.

BACKGROUND

In the early morning of December 20, 2000, 16-year-old J.S. entered the home of James Hopp in Nauvoo and hit James on the head with a fireplace poker while…