People v. Evans

The defendant, Otis Evans, was found guilty of murder by a jury in the circuit court of Lake County and later sentenced to 40 years imprisonment. He appeals his conviction and contends that: (1) the court erred in denying his pretrial motion in limine to preclude the State from using at trial a 1972 conviction for voluntary manslaughter; (2) the jury’s verdict finding him guilty of murder was against the manifest weight of the evidence in view of evidence of voluntary manslaughter.

On the evening of October 14, 1978, the defendant, Otis Evans, and the victim, James McNulty, were at the…