People v. Oswalt

Defendant, Alvin Oswalt, was found guilty after a jury trial in the Circuit Court of Madison County of the offenses of burglary and murder. He was sentenced to a term of 1 to 5 years for burglary and a term of 18 to 40 years for murder. Defendant also filed a post-conviction petition which was denied after an evidentiary hearing. Defendant has appealed from his original conviction and from the denial of his post-conviction petition, and the appeals have been consolidated.

Defendant makes four contentions: (1) he was not proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt; (2) the results of a lie detector…