People v. Johnson

In a bench trial in the Circuit Court of Jackson County, Lawrence Johnson, the defendant, was convicted of aggravated battery and theft of less than $150. He was sentenced to the penitentiary for a term of not less than one nor more than three years. Confining his appeal to the battery conviction, he contends that the trial court erred in not exonerating him on his theory of self-defense, that the sentence imposed was excessive and that he was entitled to probation.

At the time of the incident, on February 24, 1970, defendant was 18 years of age and in the last semester of his senior year in…