People v. Petty

Defendant was charged with murder for the manual strangling of his wife. The jury convicted the defendant of voluntary manslaughter (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 38, par. 9 — 2(a)) and he was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment. He appeals his conviction and sentence. We affirm.

Teresa Petty was admitted to an Ottawa, Illinois, hospital in a comatose state on July 29, 1985. She died six days later due to brain death resulting from an anoxic brain injury. Her husband, Michael Petty, told hospital personnel and relatives of the victim that his wife “stopped breathing,” or “fell over a chair.”…