The PEOPLE v. Mentola

Defendant, Ernie L. Mentóla, appeals directly from a judgment of the circuit court of Madison County entered upon a jury verdict finding him guilty of armed robbery. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1969, ch. 38, par. 18 — 2.) He was sentenced to the penitentiary for not less than two nor more than three years.

The 71-year-old complaining witness, Mrs. Cliffie Robertson, testified that some time after midnight on the morning of February 20, 1969, four young men entered her home in Venice, Illinois, where she resided with her 100-year-old husband and her 57-year-old retarded son. Three of the intruders had…