People v. Bickham

The State appeals from the circuit court of Randolph County’s dismissal of a murder indictment against the defendant, Sidney Bickham, for want of prosecution under section 103 — 5 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 (Ill. Rev. Stat., ch. 38, 103 — 5).

This case involves a complex factual situation; this is the second time it has come before us on appeal. The defendant was at all times a prison inmate. He was charged with murder after taking a knife from the inmates’ kitchen, walking into the prisoners’ dining room, and attacking three prison inmates, killing one of them and seriously…