People v. Brown

On March 12, 1971, the defendant, Lewis Calvin Brown was convicted of the offense of assault with intent to do great bodily harm.1 On the same day after defendant had requested an immediate sentence, the trial judge, without obtaining a presentence report, sentenced the defendant to five to ten years in prison.

On appeal two issues are raised: (1) was there improper conduct by the trial court during voir dire, and (2) can defendant waive his right to a presentence report?

The conduct complained of in the first issue is that the court precluded defense counsel from examining fully the venire in…