People v. Parker

Following a jury trial, the defendant, Ronald Parker, was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to a prison term of 20 years. On appeal, the defendant contends that he was denied a fair trial because the trial court failed to give the jury a general “not guilty” verdict form as required by Illinois Pattern Jury Instructions, Criminal, No. 26.01A (4th ed. 2000). For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

The defendant’s conviction arose from the shooting death of Jonathan Derick Lemon on November 7, 2002. The defendant was charged with first degree murder and claimed that he acted in…