People v. Young

              NO. 4-07-0115 Filed 4/3/08
IN THE APPELLATE COURT
OF ILLINOIS
FOURTH DISTRICT
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, ) Appeal from
Plaintiff-Appellee ) Circuit Court
v. ) of Morgan County
NELSON A. YOUNG, ) No. 05CF136
Defendant-Appellant )
) Honorable
) Richard T. Mitchell,
) Judge Presiding
_________________________________________________________________
JUSTICE MYERSCOUGH delivered the opinion of the court:
In July 2005, the State charged defendant, Nelson A.
Young, with first degree murder (720 ILCS 5/9-1(a)(1) (West
2004)); the charge was later amended to first degree murder under
section 9-1(a)(2) of the Criminal Code of 1961 (Code) (720 ILCS
5/9-1(a)(2) (West 2004)). In July 2006, a jury convicted defen-dant
of the amended first-degree-murder charge. In August 2006,
the trial court sentenced him to 40 years' imprisonment. Defen-dant
appeals, arguing that the trial court erred in allowing
evidence of prior convictions. We affirm.
I. BACKGROUND
On July 21, 2005, the State charged defendant with
first degree murder under section 9-1(a)(1) of the Code (720 ILCS
5/9-1(a)(1) (West 2004) (knows such acts will cause death)),
alleging that on July 19, 2005, defendant stabbed Eva Mae Davis,
killing her, knowing that his act created the strong probability
of death or great bodily harm. On July 26, 2005, the charge was
amended to first degree murder under section 9-1(a)(2) of the