People v. Bever

Defendant was convicted, after bench trial, of criminal sexual assault. During its pronunciation of guilt, judge commented that he had a son in the Army, that trustworthiness and the truth are drilled into you in boot camp, but that he did not find much of it from Defendant. Evidence was not closely balanced. Court found credible Defendant's statement he gave to a federal agent which was closer in time to the incident than his testimony at time of trial. Judge's comments, even assuming error, did not rise to level of structural error. (CARTER, concurring; McDADE, dissenting.)