People v. Walker

delivered the decision of the court and the following opinion in which MR. CHIEF JUSTICE GOLDENHERSH and MR. JUSTICE SIMON join:

This capital case presents questions involving the permissible reach of prosecutorial discretion under the due process clause of the United States Constitution and the appropriateness of the penalty of death for this defendant under the eighth amendment of the Constitution and Illinois law. For the reasons which follow, we consider only the former issue. The defendant initially pleaded guilty in the circuit court of St. Clair County to indictment counts of murder,…