People v. Joseph

Defendant and his codefendant and brother were convicted, after jury trial, of aggravated kidnapping, aggravated criminal sexual assault, and aggravated battery. Jury also found that Defendant was armed with a firearm during the kidnapping and sexual assault. Both Defendants proceeded pro se and were tried jointly, before a single jury. Court, after making informing jurors of the 4 Zehr principles, stated, "I take it that all of you accept and understand these four propositions of law. If that's not the case, raise your hand." That was the functional equivalent of a question that sought to confirm the jurors' acceptance and understanding, tracking verbatim the language that Rule 431(b) requires, and was sufficient to confirm the jurors' understanding of the 4 Zehr principles. Victim testified that while she was standing at a corner waiting for a bus, Defendant approached her while carrying a gun at his side and said that she had "2 options, get in the car or get shot."  Based entirely on this testimony, jury found that Defendant was armed with a firearm during the kidnapping and the sexual assault. A rational trier of fact could take it as a threat to "shoot" the victim in the usual sense of the term, with a real gun, i.e. a firearm, even though in this case the firearm was not discharged and never found. The evidence that Defendant was armed with a fireearm was sufficient. (HOWSE and McBRIDE, concurring.)