McKeag v. the People

This is a writ of error to review a judgment of the criminal court of Cook County which granted a new trial to the petitioner, John Arthur McKeag, after a hearing under the Post-Conviction Hearing Act. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1955, chap. 38, pars. 826-832.) On June 8, 1953, McKeag pleaded guilty to four counts of armed robbery and was sentenced to a term of twenty years to life in the penitentiary. His petition charged that his plea of guilty was induced by promises of a lenient sentence if he co-operated with the prosecution.

At the post-conviction hearing McKeag testified that on February 18, 1953,…