Defendant was convicted, after bench trial, of 1st degree murder by personally discharging a firearm proximately causing death and sentenced to 45 years. A reasonable trier of fact could find Defendant guilty. The threshold issue was credibility of testimony by 2 witnesses that victim identified Defendant as his shooter before police and paramedics arrived and he was unable to speak; yet the 911 recording does not reflect the victim making such an identification. Court's conclusion that witnesses' identifications of Defendant were reliable was one a rational trier of fact could reach. Court heard one witness' testimony and found her credible, and its finding that victim told the other witness that Defendant shot him is not so unreasonable, improbable, or unsatisfactory that a reasonable doubt of Defendant's guilt remains. (MIKVA and ODEN JOHNSON, concurring.)
Illinois Appellate Court
Criminal Court
Witnesses