People v. Taylor

In a jury trial in the Circuit Court of St. Clair County the defendant, Phillip D. Taylor, was convicted of murder and sentenced to the penitentiary for not less than fourteen nor more than twenty-five years. In this appeal his principal contention is that he was not proven guilty of murder beyond a reasonable doubt because the killing was in self-defense and justifiable, or, in the alternative, that the evidence proved no graver offense than that of voluntary manslaughter.

On May 18, 1969, at about 1:30 O’clock in the morning the defendant shot and killed Tommie Lee Richardson, a bartender in…