People v. Smythe

Defendant, Walter Smythe, was indicted for murder after his wife was found dead in their apartment with two knife wounds in her chest. After a jury trial in the Circuit Court of Cook County, the defendant was convicted of voluntary manslaughter, and the court sentenced him to 19 to 20 years in the penitentiary.

The issues on appeal are: (1) whether defendant’s testimony of self-defense was sufficient to raise a reasonable doubt of his guilt of voluntary manslaughter; (2) whether admission into evidence of defendant’s extra-judicial statements violated his Fifth Amendment privilege; (3) whether…