United States ex rel. Peery v. Sielaff

On the evening of March 31, 1971, Major Peery killed his wife in the kitchen of his daughter’s home. He was tried and convicted of murder in July of that year, but the judgment was reversed on appeal due to the trial court’s erroneous rejection of Peery’s proposed instructions on voluntary manslaughter. 11 Ill.App.3d 730, 297 N.E.2d 643 (1st Dist. 1973). At his retrial, Peery again proffered instructions on voluntary manslaughter. The trial court tendered the instruction on voluntary manslaughter based on unreasonable belief in justification (self-defense) but refused the instruction on…