The People v. Sumner

A jury in the circuit court of Vermilion County found the defendant, Jessie Sumner, guilty of the murder of Herschel Williams and he was sentenced to a term of 35 to 75 years. On appeal, the Appellate Court for the Fourth District held that the defendant’s guilt had been established beyond a reasonable doubt and that certain errors claimed did not require a new trial. However, the cause was remanded to the trial court with directions to conduct a hearing into the “existence, availability, proper producibility and relevancy” of pretrial statements of certain State witnesses which, it appeared…