People v. Cowen

Mr. PRESIDING JUSTICE SULLIVAN

delivered the opinion of the court:

In a bench trial, defendant was convicted of murder and sentenced to a term of 14 to 42 years. On appeal, he contends that (1) the court committed reversible error by allowing an 11-year-old witness to testify without first conducting a competency hearing; and (2) his conviction was not established beyond a reasonable doubt and should be reduced to either of the lesser-included offenses of voluntary manslaughter or involuntary manslaughter and his sentence modified accordingly.

Tyre Bias, age 11, testified that he was in a vacant…