The People v. Jackson

1 Citing case

  1. People v. Butler

    318 N.E.2d 680 (Ill. App. Ct. 1974)   Cited 16 times
    Finding counsel ineffective for failing to request accomplice instruction where it "was crucial to the State's case, which otherwise was supported only by highly questionable circumstantial evidence"

    A more salient error of omission occurred when defendant's appointed counsel failed to submit an instruction on accomplice testimony. Our supreme court has held that the trial court's refusal to give such an instruction is reversible error because of the inherently suspect and damaging nature of accomplice testimony ( People v. Zaransky (1935), 362 Ill. 76, 199 N.E. 104), and has found error even where a cautionary instruction was given which implied that accomplice testimony, if believed, could be given weight equal to that of other evidence ( People v. Jackson (1940), 375 Ill. 203, 30 N.E.2d 654; People v. Millard (1938), 370 Ill. 214, 18 N.E.2d 211). In the instant case, the testimony of the accomplice, Douglas Clark, was crucial to the State's case, which otherwise was supported only by highly questionable circumstantial evidence.