People v. Wilmington

Following a jury trial, defendant Lamar Wilmington was convicted of the first degree murder of Guan McWilliams and of concealing that homicidal death. Defendant was sentenced to consecutive terms of 50 years and 5 years in prison, respectively, for those crimes. On appeal, defendant contends that he was denied a fair trial for two reasons: (1) the trial court did not ascertain that defendant consented to his counsel’s tendering of a jury instruction on second degree murder; and (2) the trial court did not fully comply with the voir dire requirements of Illinois Supreme Court Rule 431(b) (177…