The PEOPLE v. Johnson

Defendant was convicted of armed robbery in a Will County circuit court jury trial and sentenced to the penitentiary for a term of twenty years to life. On this writ of error he contends that certain rulings by the trial judge deprived him of a fair trial and resulted in a denial of due process. The specific errors charged relate to denial of a midtrial motion to poll the jury regarding a specific news story and admission in evidence of a revolver without proof that defendant had a gun during the robbery.

During the selection of the jury and after one panel of four had been accepted by both…