People v. Ward

The defendant, Robert Ward, was found guilty of perjury after a jury trial in the circuit court of Macon County. The appellate court affirmed his conviction (50 Ill. App. 3d 885), and we granted his petition for leave to appeal (58 Ill. 2d R. 315). His contention is that his prosecution had been barred under the doctrine of collateral estoppel.

The defendant had been previously tried and found guilty of burglary. The trial court, however, granted his motion for a new trial on the ground that the evidence had been insufficient to support the jury’s verdict. The case was not retried and the…