(DOWNLOAD) "People v. Sloan" by Supreme Court of Illinois * eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: People v. Sloan
- Author : Supreme Court of Illinois
- Release Date : January 19, 1986
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 57 KB
Description
Following a jury trial in the circuit court of Sangamon County, the defendant, Mark A. Sloan, was convicted of murder and home invasion and sentenced to 40 years' imprisonment. The appellate court, with one justice dissenting, reversed the conviction and remanded the cause for a new trial, concluding that the trial judge had erred in refusing the defendant's instructions on self-defense and voluntary manslaughter. (129 Ill. App.3d 242.) We allowed the State's petition for leave to appeal (94 Ill.2d R. 315(a)). The evidence presented at trial was largely undisputed. Shortly after 2 a.m. on January 13, 1983, the defendant went to the home of a former girlfriend, Cynthia Johnson, and shot and killed her boyfriend, Richard Wilson, during an argument. The defendant was arrested soon after that. In a statement to the police, the defendant explained that he and Wilson had fought the previous week. Before setting out that night, the defendant had thought about the earlier fight, and he decided to go to Johnson's house to see whether the victim was there and to take care of the problems. With a sawed-off shotgun under his arm, the defendant knocked on Johnson's door for about 10 to 15 minutes and then pushed it open; according to the defendant, it was already damaged. The defendant found Wilson sitting alone on a bed in one of the bedrooms, and they argued. The defendant told police that when he displayed the gun, Wilson dared him to fire it. Wilson then jumped up and rushed forward, and the defendant fired the gun.