People v. Allen

The defendant was indicted for murder and was tried before a jury in the Circuit Court of Cook County. The jury returned a verdict of guilty, and the court imposed a sentence of imprisonment for a term of from 40 to 100 years. On appeal, the defendant-appellant contends that under the circumstances the trial court erred in refusing to instruct the jurors that they could be discharged without reaching a verdict.

The testimony of various witnesses indicated the following to be the relevant facts. On June 22, 1974, William Moore, James Grady, Johnnie Stuckie, and a man known only as “Lee” shared…