The PEOPLE v. Spencer

Defendant, William Spencer, was found guilty of murder after a bench trial in the criminal court of Cook County and sentenced to life imprisonment. He prosecutes this writ of error contending that the introduction into evidence of a coerced confession denied him due process of law, and that he was not proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The dismal picture emerging from the evidence shows that on the night of April 1, 1959, defendant was employed as a room clerk in the Casa Blanca Hotel, located at 3139 S. Michigan Avenue in. Chicago. During the early morning hours of that date the…