People v. Washington

After a jury trial, defendant was convicted of the June 6, 1981, murder of James Riordan and sentenced to 35 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. Defendant raises several issues on appeal, including the terms of the conviction itself and the length of his sentence, the impact of pretrial publicity on his ability to receive a fair trial and the propriety of a previously substituted trial judge disposing of defendant’s motion to substitute for cause. He also asserts several instances of the trial court's alleged abuse of discretion in conducting the trial, and of prosecutorial…