The PEOPLE v. Dampher

The defendant, Jack Dampher, was convicted of murder after a bench trial in the criminal court of Cook County, and was sentenced to forty years in the penitentiary. He prosecutes this writ of error to review his conviction.

He first contends that he was deprived of his constitutional right to a public trial because the testimony for the defense was heard in chambers while a jury in another case was being selected in the courtroom. There was no objection to this procedure. In defendant’s post-conviction hearing there was an inquiry into the circumstances of which the defendant now complains.…