People v. Jones

On February 4, 1971, Earl F. Jones was found guilty by a jury of the murder of Joseph Anthony Mattera and later sentenced to the penitentiary for a term of 25 to 60 years. On appeal, he contends that the trial court erred in denying his two motions for a new trial. One motion was on the basis of newly discovered evidence. The other motion complained of the giving, over defendant’s objection, of an instruction defining the offense of murder without reference to self-defense.

In his testimony, defendant admitted shooting Mattera but maintained that he did so in self-defense. He stated that on…