The PEOPLE v. Price

The defendant, Clarence Price, was found guilty by a jury of the crime of murder by arson, and sentenced to the Illinois State Penitentiary for the term of his natural life. Upon this writ of error defendant contends that his four statements or confessions were elicited by coercion, and that their admission in evidence violated the constitutional guarantees of due process, as well as certain procedural rules; and that there was insufficient evidence to sustain the verdict.

The evidence developed during the pretrial hearing on the admissibility of the confessions and at the trial itself is…