The People v. Montgomery

In March of 1968 a jury in the circuit court of Cook County found the defendant, Ellis Montgomery, guilty of the unlawful sale of a narcotic drug, and he was sentenced to imprisonment for not less than 10 years nor more than 10 years and a day. On this direct appeal, the defendant argues: that the use of a prior conviction to impeach his credibility violated his sixth amendment right to counsel because the record of the conviction did not show that he was represented by counsel; that he was denied his right to a fair trial by the admission into evidence of a prior conviction not relevant to…