People v. Woods

Summary

The court held that conflicting jury instructions on parental accountability can constitute harmless error when the conflict does not concern a disputed essential issue. Because the evidence proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Woods personally committed the aggravated batteries as a principal, her knowledge of Richardson’s abuse was not an essential element of the convictions, and the instructional error was harmless. The court affirmed the convictions and advised that future parental-accountability instructions omit the “should have known” language.