The People v. Lewis

Defendants Lawrence Lewis and Melvin Penelton were indicted for forcible rape and statutory rape. They were represented by counsel of their own choice and found guilty of statutory rape by a jury in the circuit court of Madison County. On May 8, 1961, they were sentenced to the penitentiary for a term of two years. On this writ of error they urge that certain trial errors require the granting of a new trial or the reversal of the conviction.

The prosecutrix, who was 15 years of age, testified that defendants, instead of taking her home after a dance, parked on a country road near Edwardsville…