People v. Lee

Mario Lee was indicted for the offense of first-degree murder. After a bench trial by the circuit court of Cook County, Lee was convicted of the offense and was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment. A timely notice of appeal was filed. Defendant requests that this court reduce the offense from murder to manslaughter per Supreme Court Rule 615(b)(2) (134 Ill. 2d R. 615(b)(2)).

In this appeal defendant makes four arguments: (1) the trial court improperly found sufficient evidence of the requisite mental state for first-degree murder rather than involuntary manslaughter; (2) the trial court…