People v. Hamilton

Following a jury trial in the circuit court of McLean County, defendant, Antonio Hamilton, was convicted of residential burglary (720 ILCS 5/19 — 3(a) (West 1994)) and sentenced to a prison term of 18 years. A divided appellate court affirmed (283 Ill. App. 3d 854), and this court granted defendant’s petition for leave to appeal (166 Ill. 2d R. 315(a)).

The evidence at trial revealed that at approximately 8:30 a.m. on January 29, 1994, Bob Williams was in the kitchen of his home drinking coffee and reading the newspaper. At the time, Bob’s wife, Rita, was still asleep in the couple’s bedroom…