People v. Howard

On April 12, 1984, after a jury trial in the circuit court of Winnebago County, the defendant, Reginald Howard, was found guilty of murder, not guilty of voluntary manslaughter, and was sentenced to a term of 20 years’ incarceration. On appeal defendant argues: (1) that the trial court erred in admitting his confession into evidence; (2) that his conviction should be reduced to voluntary manslaughter; (3) that the jury instructions were insufficient; and (4) that he was denied a fair trial by the prosecutor’s closing argument.

At approximately 3 p.m. on August 3, 1983, Turina Cochran and…