Illinois Supreme Court
Criminal Court
Sentencing
Defendant, having been released on bond, failed to appear when guilty verdicts were returned for armed violence and aggravated battery, and he was sentenced in absentia. Defendant had not been properly admonished that trial could proceed if he failed to appear; even though Defendant had signed a bond slip, printed warnings on it were insufficient to satisfy statutory requirements if the verbal admonitions had not been given. Section 113-4 of Code of Criminal Procedure unambiguously requires trial court to admonish a defendant in open court. Warning on bond slip, provided outside presence of court, is not a blanket waiver of such admonishment. (KILBRIDE, FREEMAN, and BURKE, concurring; THOMAS, GARMAN, and KARMEIER, dissenting.)