Jerry's Journal

People v. White, 2011 IL 109689 (August 4, 2011).

The judgment of the appellate court insofar as it upheld defendant’s conviction for first degree murder is affirmed; however, the Court finds that the appellate court’s pronouncements on the substantive issues are dicta, as the facts of this case do not bring it within the purview of plain-error review: the evidence was not closely balanced—contrary to defendant’s argument and the appellate court’s finding. The Court noted that a determination as to whether evidence is closely balanced is not strictly a quantitative assessment. No argument was made that the alleged error of not allowing an attorney to be present during the line-up was of such a magnitude that it would have affected the fairness of defendant’s bench trial and challenged the integrity of the judicial process.

Tags: Criminal, Sixth Amendment