Illinois Appellate Court
Criminal Court
Jury Instructions
Defendant was convicted, after jury trial, of Class 1 felony of criminal sexual assault, and required a finding that the Defendant knew that the victim was unable to give knowing consent. Defendant was age 17 at time of incident, and victim, then age 19, was intermittently passing out and drunk. During deliberations jury asked for "more explicit, expansive definition of reasonable doubt", and judge committed plain error in instructing jurors that it was "for the jury to collectively determine", as this allowed jury to use a standard that was likely below threshold of reasonable doubt standard, and thus deprived Defendant of his right to a fair trial. (CONNORS and HARRIS, concurring.)