People v. Gonzalez

Michael Rodriguez, also known as “Monkeyman,” was fatally shot on the corner of Cleaver and West Blackhawk streets in Chicago. A jury in the circuit court of Cook County found the defendant, Freddie Gonzalez, guilty of the murder, and he was sentenced to a prison term of 35 years. The appellate court reversed the conviction and remanded the cause for a new trial, holding inter alia that the trial court’s ruling forbidding any reference to gang membership in the case improperly limited the defendant’s cross-examination of one of the two occurrence witnesses (120 Ill. App. 3d 1029).

Three issues…