People v. Guyton

The defendant, Robert Lee Guyton, was tried before a jury in the circuit court of Cook County and convicted of armed robbery. He was sentenced to not less than 3 nor more than 8 years in the penitentiary. This is an appeal from that conviction. On February 4, 1967, at about 10 P.M., a taxicab driver picked up two passengers, a man and a woman, at 43rd and Ellis streets in Chicago. The woman passenger paid her fare and left the cab at 48th and Champlain streets. The male passenger then told the driver to take him to 38th and Michigan. During the ride, the passenger carried on a conversation with the driver. When the cab stopped at a stop sign at 37th Place and Michigan Avenue, the defendant said, This is a stickup. The driver turned around and observed the man with a gun. Upon demand, the driver gave his money, about $25, to the passenger who then left the cab and walked east on 37th Place. The driver drove around the block and a few minutes later at 37th Street and Indiana Avenue saw the man who had robbed him. When the driver spotted a police squad car, he stopped it and informed the officers of the robbery. He entered the squad car with the officers. They drove to 37th and Prairie where they parked the squad car and entered several establishments in that vicinity. As they were walking near 37th Street and Indiana Avenue, the cab driver saw the defendant step out of a doorway. He informed the officers that the defendant was the man who had robbed him and warned them that he had a gun. As the defendant reached for his hip pocket, the officers arrested him and removed a .22 caliber pistol from the pocket for which he was reaching. The arrest took place about 20 minutes after the robbery.