People v. Howard

Following a jury trial in the circuit court of Cook County, the defendant, Stanley Howard, was convicted of murder and attempted armed robbery. At a separate sentencing hearing, the same jury found the defendant eligible for the death penalty on the ground that the murder was committed in the course of an attempted armed robbery, a statutory aggravating circumstance (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1983, ch. 38, par. 9 — 1(b)(6)). The jury concluded that there were no mitigating circumstances sufficient to preclude imposition of the death penalty, and the trial judge therefore sentenced the defendant to…