defining possession as element of unlawful use or possession of weapons by felons
How later courts described this case
- defining possession as element of unlawful use or possession of weapons by felons
- finding no reasonable expectation of privacy in a garbage bag left on a second floor landing of an outside stairway because such area was an openly accessible common area of the apartment building
- prosecutor commented that reasonable-doubt standard “ ‘is the same burden of proof in every case that is tried in this courtroom, every case that is tried in this county, and every case that is tried in this country’ ” and that “ ‘[t]he penitentiary is full of people like [the defendants] who have been proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt’ ”
- “The question of whether a witness is a narcotics addict at the time of testifying or at the time that an event occurred is a proper subject of cross-examination because it goes to the credibility - 17 - of the witness and the witness’ ability to recall.”
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
JUSTICE SIMON, also dissenting:
I join Chief Justice Clark’s dissent. In addition, for the reasons set forth in my separate opinions in People v. Lewis (1981), 88 Ill. 2d 129, 179 (Simon, J., dissenting), in People v. Silagy (1984), 101 Ill. 2d 147, 184 (Simon, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part), and in People v. Albanese (1984), 104 Ill. 2d 504, 549 (Simon, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part), I believe that the Illinois death penalty statute is unconstitutional and that the death sentence in this case should be vacated.