People v. Mapp

During jury selection in this murder and armed robbery case, the prosecutors made a shambles of Supreme Court Rule 234 (134 Ill. 2d R. 234). They indoctrinated, preeducated, conditioned, and pretried.

After both sides rested, the State’s final argument contained improper references to the victim’s surviving family.

Joseph Mapp (Mapp) was convicted by the jury and sentenced to 55 years for murder and 25 years for armed robbery, the sentences to be served concurrently.

Despite our misgivings about the way the jury was selected and about the State’s final argument, our review of the evidence…