The People v. Kirkwood

In 1951 Joseph Kirkwood was indicted in the criminal court of Cook County for the crime of forcible rape. Upon trial by jury he was found guilty and punishment was set at life imprisonment. His petition for a writ of error under Rule 65 — 1 and his petition for a writ of error under the Post-Conviction Hearing Act were allowed and have been consolidated. We have appointed counsel to represent defendant in this court.

The post-conviction petition which was filed in the trial court charged that certain evidence was improperly admitted and also alleged that defendant’s counsel was incompetent.…