Opinion ID: 1986727
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: In re Denzel W.

Text: Respondent Denzel W., a minor, was charged, in the circuit court of Cook County, with one count of aggravated battery against Bobbi F. [1] arising from an incident that occurred at Ridgeland Commons community park in Oak Park, Illinois. At a bench trial on April 7, 2005, respondent was represented by an assistant public defender, who stated before trial that he would be assisted by    7-11 [ sic ] law clerk [J.F.] The cover sheet of the trial transcript similarly identifies J.F. as 7-11, but no written consent to her participation was filed. At trial, Bobbi F. testified that she and several friends had gone to Ridgeland Commons to sled, and Bobbi was approached by respondent and his friends. Bobbi stated that although she tried to walk away, respondent followed her and began making lewd comments. Bobbi then ran away from respondent into a park building, but respondent followed her and dragged her out of the building by her ponytail. According to Bobbi, respondent then pulled her to the front of the building where he repeatedly slammed her head into a patch of ice. A few moments later, respondent picked Bobbi up and threw her into a garbage can before walking away. On cross-examination, conducted by the assistant public defender, Bobbi admitted that she and respondent had quarreled in the past. The State also called Grant M., one of the boys who had been sledding with Bobbi F., and Bobbi's mother. Both witnesses were cross-examined by the assistant public defender. Respondent's first witness was Tequila T., and the direct examination of Tequila was performed by the 711 law student, J.F. Tequila testified that she had been sledding at Ridgeland Common that day along with Bobbi F., Grant M., and others. She stated that she had not seen anything out of the ordinary that day, and she had not seen Bobbi with respondent, although she had seen respondent and his friends at the park. When J.F. began to ask Tequila a leading question about what she had seen respondent and his friends doing, the court interjected an admonition: Q. [by J.F.] Did you see him doing anything with his friends? A. They was just talking. Q. They were just socializing at the Ridgeland Commons? THE COURT: No. No. It's not what she said. Don't you summarize and put words in her mouth. You ask questions. That's all. You do not ask leading questions. J.F. also attempted to elicit testimony about Bobbi's reputation around school: Q. Did you go to school with [Bobbi]? A. Yes. Q. What type of reputation did [Bobbi] have at school? [State's Attorney]: Objection. THE COURT: Her reputationSustained. [Assistant public defender]: Judge. THE COURT: If it goes to peacefulness, that's fine. If it goes to anything else, no. It has nothing to do with this case. You have to lay a proper foundation for reputation. If you're going to go to peacefulness. [J.F.]: Nothing further with this witness, your Honor. On cross-examination, Tequila claimed that she and others had warned Bobbi not to go down the sledding hill when respondent and his friends were there. The assistant public defender then attempted to begin a redirect examination, but he was stopped by the court, who said, You didn't start this examination. You don't get to finish it. Your co-counsel did the examination.    We don't play tag team here. The attorney replied, That's fine, and the court added, If she [J.F.] has other questions to ask on redirect, fine. J.F. then conducted a brief redirect. J.F. also conducted a direct examination of Travis P., a friend of respondent. Travis testified that he had been with respondent at the park, and that he had been apart from respondent for only about two minutes during the afternoon. He also said that he did not see respondent grab Bobbi, nor did he see any injuries on Bobbi that day. Respondent then called Bobbi F. to testify again, and she was examined by the assistant public defender. Finally, respondent testified on his own behalf, also examined by the assistant public defender. Respondent claimed that he and his friends were having a snowball fight when one of his friends accidentally hit Bobbi with a snowball. According to respondent, Bobbi mistakenly believed he had thrown the errant snowball, and the two had argued, but that no physical altercation had taken place. He specifically denied chasing Bobbi, hitting her, or slamming her head into the ground. The assistant public defender also gave respondent's closing argument, arguing that Bobbi had fabricated the entire story because she never liked respondent. The court found that the State had met its burden, and adjudicated respondent delinquent. Respondent appealed, and the appellate court reversed the circuit court's decision and ordered a new trial. In re Denzel W., No. 1-05-3374 (unpublished order under Supreme Court Rule 23). The court found that the failure to obtain consent to representation by a 711 law student was a violation of respondent's right to counsel, relying on People v. Schlaiss, 174 Ill.App.3d 78, 123 Ill.Dec. 789, 528 N.E.2d 334 (1988) (finding defendant was denied counsel where he did not consent to participation of 711 law student in his representation). It rejected the State's argument that the failure should be subject to a harmless-error analysis, holding that the lack of consent amounted to a complete denial of counsel. We granted the State's petition for leave to appeal pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 315 (210 Ill.2d R. 315).