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Motion of American Civil Liberties Union, Illinois Division, and Illinois Committee for the Abolition of Capital Punishment for leave to file a brief, as amici curiae, granted. Motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis granted. Petition for writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court of Illinois granted limited to Questions 1, 3 and 4 set forth in the petition which read as follows:
Over objection (A.81-94), the prosecution introduced a sixteen-gauge shotgun into evidence. (A.94.) The sixteen-gauge shotgun did not belong to the petitioner, was not recovered from him, and was never in his possession or control. (A.58, 66-71.)
During closing argument the prosecutor told the jury that the sixteen- gauge shotgun was not the weapon that killed the deceased, but that any man who was with another man who had the shotgun and shells for its was the type of person that deserved the death penalty. (A.191-201, 204-206.)
The question presented is whether the introduction and use of such evidence, totally unconnected with the petitioner or the crime charged, denied the petitioner a fair trial?
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