People v. Blount

Following a joint jury trial, defendants Kennedy Blount and Michael Dotson were convicted of murder. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 38, par. 9—1(a)(1).) Dotson was sentenced to imprisonment for 40 years and Blount for 30 years. In this appeal, they assert numerous grounds for reversal, principally that the circuit court erred in denying their motions for severance of their trial.

Early on March 14, 1985, Frederick Poe was found dead in the lobby area of the Henry Horner housing project at 140 N. Wood Street in Chicago. Dotson, Blount, and Dotson’s brother Robert were subsequently charged with the…