People v. Mau

Appealing from his conviction, following a jury trial, for armed robbery and the consequent sentence of six years, the minimum sentence prescribed for armed robbery (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 38, pars. 18—2 (b), 1005—8—1 (a) (3)), the defendant, Ronald Mau, raises two issues for our consideration. The first is whether, in order to mitigate the allegedly unduly harsh sentence, this court should reduce the degree of the offense.

A court of review, however, will not reduce the degree of offense purely out of merciful benevolence. There must exist some evidentiary weakness upon which the court can…