In Re Estate of Melody

This court granted defendant Pauline Owens leave to appeal from the judgment of the appellate court affirming a conviction and sentence of one-year imprisonment for criminal contempt of the probate division of the circuit court of Cook County.

The issues presented are whether defendant’s conduct in conspiring with lawyers and others to create a spurious will, obtaining signatures of attesting witnesses and furnishing them with knowledge that would render their false testimony plausible upon proof of the will, constituted a contempt of court; and whether defendant was entitled to a jury trial…