People v. Simmons

In the late evening of July 11, 1979, Sharon Hobbs was shot and fatally wounded by the defendant, Billy Simmons, a/k/a James Booker, in a lounge on the near north side of Chicago. The defendant testified that the revolver he had been carrying had been accidentally discharged. He was charged in the circuit court of Cook County in a three-count indictment with murder with intent to kill or do great bodily harm (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 38, par. 9—1(a)(1)), murder based on knowledge that his acts created a strong probability of death or great bodily harm (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 38, par.…