Appellate Court reversed and remanded defendant’s convictions for aggravated DUI and aggravated driving while license was revoked, after concluding that trial court erred in failing to rule on defendant’s motion for substitution of judge. Record showed that while defendant timely filed pro se motion for substitution of judge as matter of right pursuant to 724 ILCS 5/114-5(a), his attorney never adopted said motion and defendant never obtained ruling on his motion and ultimately agreed to proceed to bench trial with judge named in his motion. In its petition for leave to appeal, State argued that defendant had effectively abandoned his substitution motion and acquiesced to bench trial before named judge, and that defendant otherwise could not file such motion when he was represented by counsel.
Illinois Supreme Court PLAs
Criminal Court
Substitution of Judge