People v. Pickett

Walter Pickett, the defendant, was indicted for the murder of Henry McNeil, found guilty by a jury of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to a term of not less than 5 nor more than 15 years.

The defendant’s testimony established that prior to the homicide he was provoked by the following acts of the deceased. On February 16, 1973, he had a beer at a bar in Chicago and as he was leaving the deceased approached him, gave him a gang signal and said, “the nation runs it.” The deceased then grabbed a dollar bill defendant was holding m his hand and when the deceased would not return the money, the…