People v. Wilcox 

Defendant was convicted, after jury trial, of first degree murder and aggravated unlawful restraint. After 2 hours 50 minutes of deliberating, jury sent court a note that they were "11 to 1 on all 4 propositions". Court sent a note in response stating "when you were sworn in as jurors and placed under oath you pledged to obtain a verdict. Please continue to deliberate and obtain a verdict." Court's note to jury was coercive as it indicated that being deadlocked was not an option, and that their oath required a verdict. Note affected the Defendant's right to a fair trial and challenged the integrity of the judicial process, and Defendant was prejudiced as evidence was closely balanced. Court erred in barring a witness from testifying as to statement made by another person that he shot the victim, as statement satisfied four factors for exception to inadmissible hearsay. (LAVIN and PUCINSKI, concurring.)