People v. Yates

The People of the State of Illinois appeal from an order of the circuit court of St. Clair County, entered November 15, 1989, which granted the post-conviction petition of defendant, Robert Yates, on the basis of the supreme court’s then-recent decision in People v. Reddick (1988), 123 Ill. 2d 184, 526 N.E.2d 141. The post-conviction court found that the jury at defendant’s trial for attempted murder had not been properly instructed regarding the State’s burden to prove the defendant’s lack of justification (self-defense) as an element of the offense where the defendant had presented some…