People v. Oros

Christopher Oros (defendant) went door-to-door of an apartment building using a ruse in an attempt to solicit cash from its residents. Oros used this ruse to gain access to the victim’s apartment. During the police investigative interview, Oros claimed there were two men in the victim’s apartment who struck him in the head with a stick and that he was able to escape. Oros then changed his rendition of the facts and admitted that the victim permitted him to come inside her apartment using the same ruse, but that the victim struck him over the head with a coffee mug, knocking him to the ground, and climbed on top of him with a knife in her hand. Oros managed to gain control of the knife, punched the victim, and then proceeded to stab her a total of 29 times. Meanwhile, the prosecution presented evidence that directly conflicted with Oros’s description. The evidence showed that Oros did not have any head injuries consistent with his claim that the victim struck him over the head with a coffee mug, and the DNA-tested pieces of the coffee mug collected at the scene revealed the presence of the victim’s blood and hair—not Oros’s. Oros was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder. The court of appeals reversed, concluding there was insufficient evidence of premeditation and deliberation, and reduced Oros’s conviction to second-degree murder.