Defendant pled guilty to criminal damage to property. Defendant was convicted, after jury trial, of aggravated assault, aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a peace officer, and DUI.No error resulted from procedure court used in replaying the video and audio recordings for jurors in the courtroom. Court instructed attorneys and Defendant not to speak in presence of jurors, and record does not indicate that anyone spoke while jury was in the courtroom viewing and listening to the recordings, and thus jury deliberations did not occur during that time. Court’s limitation of defense counsel’s cross-examination of police officer—barring questioning about the potential negative consequences to his employment if the shooting were found to be unjustified-- violated Defendant’s right to confrontation. Defense counsel was trying to elicit, through cross-examination, evidence that officer was motivated to testify falsely. Order was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. (WRIGHT, concurring; SCHMIDT, dissenting.)
Illinois Appellate Court
Criminal Court
Cross-Examination