People v. Newberry

Defendant, indicted for the crime of murder, was found guilty at a bench trial of the crime of voluntary manslaughter, and sentenced to a term of four years to fifteen years in the penitentiary. He appeals.

The evidence adduced by the People shows that in the late afternoon of September 4, 1968, the defendant entered a tavern located on West Diversey Avenue in Chicago and took a seat at the bar next to Dorothy Brogan. Sometime after 8:00 that evening patrons at the tavern heard a noise which sounded like a “cannon cracker” or a firecracker. One of the patrons testified that after the noise was…