People v. Edwards

Following a jury trial in the circuit court of Kane County, defendant, Nathaniel Edwards, was found guilty of felony murder (720 ILCS 5/9 — 1(a)(3) (West 1998)) predicated upon the offense of robbery (720 ILCS 5/18 — 1 (West 1998)) and was sentenced to natural life imprisonment. On appeal defendant contends that he was denied a fair trial due to: (1) the trial court’s failure to sua sponte instruct the jury with the definition of robbery; and (2) the violation of a pretrial order prohibiting reference to a statement defendant allegedly made that he had killed before and would kill again. For…