{
  "id": 2588723,
  "name": "People of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Lester J. Colson, Defendant-Appellant",
  "name_abbreviation": "People v. Colson",
  "decision_date": "1966-05-13",
  "docket_number": "Gen. No. 50,412",
  "first_page": "447",
  "last_page": "451",
  "citations": [
    {
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      "cite": "70 Ill. App. 2d 447"
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  "court": {
    "name_abbreviation": "Ill. App. Ct.",
    "id": 8837,
    "name": "Illinois Appellate Court"
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  "jurisdiction": {
    "id": 29,
    "name_long": "Illinois",
    "name": "Ill."
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    {
      "cite": "211 NE2d 708",
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      "reporter": "N.E.2d",
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    {
      "cite": "33 Ill2d 439",
      "category": "reporters:state",
      "reporter": "Ill. 2d",
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      "cite": "139 NE 78",
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      "opinion_index": 0
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    {
      "cite": "307 Ill 611",
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      "reporter": "Ill.",
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  "last_updated": "2023-07-14T17:04:07.437496+00:00",
  "provenance": {
    "date_added": "2019-08-29",
    "source": "Harvard",
    "batch": "2018"
  },
  "casebody": {
    "judges": [
      "DRUCKER, P. J. and McCORMICK, J., concur."
    ],
    "parties": [
      "People of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Lester J. Colson, Defendant-Appellant."
    ],
    "opinions": [
      {
        "text": "MR. JUSTICE ENGLISH\ndelivered the opinion of the court.\nCHARGE\nVoluntary manslaughter.\nDEFENSE AT TRIAL\nJustifiable use of force in defense of person.\nJUDGMENT\nAfter a bench trial, the court found defendant guilty and imposed a sentence of three to ten years.\nPOINTS RAISED ON APPEAL\n(1) The charge was not proved beyond a reasonable doubt.\n(2) The sentence is excessive.\nEVIDENCE\nTestimony of State Witnesses\nEdward Kendrick and Vander Mayo\nThese witnesses substantially corroborated each other\u2019s testimony. They went to defendant\u2019s auto shop at 5:30 p. m. on October 4, 1963, and joined a round robin checker game with defendant and decedent, James Jones. After about an hour the game was changed to dice. Whiskey and beer were consumed; defendant drank beer. Defendant lost all his money and asked decedent to lend him four dollars. Decedent declined on the ground that defendant already owed him money. Defendant denied this and called decedent a liar; decedent called defendant a liar. Defendant slapped decedent in the face. Decedent rose from his chair and advanced toward defendant, who backed up and removed a pistol from his belt. Decedent continued to advance.\nKendrick told defendant: \u201cDon\u2019t shoot, leave it go, let it go today.\u201d At that time Kendrick, who is 6'3%\" tall, was standing close to defendant and decedent, both of whom were about 5'10\" tall and weighed about 160 pounds. Defendant \u201csnapped\u201d the gun two or three times, but it didn\u2019t go off. Then he fired a shot which hit the floor. Then he fired two more shots at decedent. Kendrick was close enough so that the powder blast blinded him temporarily. Decedent did not have anything in his hands and had not been seen to \u201cgo into his pockets.\u201d\nDecedent walked to an overhead door, lifted it, stag* gered out into the alley about ten feet, and fell. At defendant\u2019s suggestion the three men lifted decedent into a car, and defendant then left. Kendrick and Mayo, picking up a police escort en route, drove decedent to Bethany Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.\nTestimony of Defendant\nDefendant got into an argument with decedent when the latter refused to lend him any money. Decedent \u201cstarted at\u201d him, whereupon defendant slapped decedent to keep him away. Defendant then stepped away and drew his gun. The big front door was open. Defendant backed up against a car in the garage, and Kendrick ran between decedent and defendant, telling him not to shoot. Decedent kept coming till he was about two feet away. Defendant then fired one shot at the floor and \u201ctwo quick shots\u201d with the gun pointed at decedent. The gun did not misfire.\nDefendant\u2019s only intention was to stop decedent, not to kill him. Defendant is 5'6\" tall and weighs 130 pounds. Decedent was bigger, and usually carried a knife, but defendant saw nothing in decedent\u2019s hands at the time. After Kendrick and Mayo took decedent\u2019s body away, defendant went home. He thought he left the gun on the fender of the car, but he could have put it in a garbage can or just thrown it away. (The gun was never found.)\nOPINION\n(1) The credibility of the witnesses is essentially a matter for the trial court. There is evidence which, if believed, establishes proof of defendant\u2019s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.\nDefendant was the aggressor verbally as well as physically. Decedent had no weapon and uttered no threat. This being true, and with the large garage door open, defendant\u2019s backing up to a car does not, as his argument implies, give his conduct the status of retreat from a wrongdoer. People v. Durand, 307 Ill 611, 139 NE 78.\nUnder all the circumstances there existed no reasonable ground for defendant to believe that it was necessary for him to shoot decedent to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself. Ill Rev Stats (1963), c 38, \u00a7\u00a7 9-2 (b) and 7-1, set forth above in footnotes 1 and 2.\n(2) As to the alleged excessiveness of the sentence imposed, we do not consider that it \u201cconstitutes a substantial departure from the fundamental law and its spirit and purpose, or that it is not proportioned to the nature of the offense. . . . Upon a review of the entire record we cannot say that the trial court abused its discretion in this matter.\u201d People v. Miller, 33 Ill2d 439, 444, 445, 211 NE2d 708.\nDECISION\nThe judgment of the Circuit Court is affirmed.\nAffirmed.\nDRUCKER, P. J. and McCORMICK, J., concur.\nIll Rev Stats (1963), c 38, \u00a7 9-2(b):\nA person who intentionally or knowingly kills an individual commits voluntary manslaughter if at the time of the killing he believes the circumstances to be such that, if they existed, would justify or exonerate the killing under the principles stated in Article 7 of this Code, but his belief is unreasonable.\nIll Rev Stats (1963), c 38, \u00a7 7-1:\nA person is justified in the use of force against another when and to the extent that he reasonably believes that such conduct is necessary to defend himself or another against such other\u2019s imminent use of unlawful force. However, he is justified in the use of force which is intended or likely to cause death or great bodily harm only if he reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or another, or the commission of a forcible felony.\nDefendant\u2019s brief: \u201cWhat more could the defendant have done? He retreated.\u201d\nAmong which was the fact that Kendrick, a very large man, was attempting to prevent the fracas.",
        "type": "majority",
        "author": "MR. JUSTICE ENGLISH"
      }
    ],
    "attorneys": [
      "Gerald W. Getty, Public Defender of Cook County, of Chicago (James J. Doherty, Frederick F. Cohn and Brian L. Crowe, Assistant Public Defenders, of counsel), for appellant.",
      "Daniel P. Ward, State\u2019s Attorney of Cook County, of Chicago (Elmer C. Kissane and Stuart P. Shapiro, Assistant State\u2019s Attorneys, of counsel), for appellee."
    ],
    "corrections": "",
    "head_matter": "People of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Lester J. Colson, Defendant-Appellant.\nGen. No. 50,412.\nFirst District, Fourth Division.\nMay 13, 1966.\nGerald W. Getty, Public Defender of Cook County, of Chicago (James J. Doherty, Frederick F. Cohn and Brian L. Crowe, Assistant Public Defenders, of counsel), for appellant.\nDaniel P. Ward, State\u2019s Attorney of Cook County, of Chicago (Elmer C. Kissane and Stuart P. Shapiro, Assistant State\u2019s Attorneys, of counsel), for appellee."
  },
  "file_name": "0447-01",
  "first_page_order": 459,
  "last_page_order": 463
}