Court Opinion

ID: 9745157
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 22:38:16.843817+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:56.911649
License: Public Domain

Mr. JUSTICE MORAN, dissenting: The record in this case clearly discloses that the severe punishment of twenty to thirty years in the penitentiary imposed by the trial judge was because defendant Cherry availed himself of his right to a jury trial. Defendant Gilbert, whose part in the robbery was just as bad if not worse than defendant Cherry’s, received a three to eight year sentence upon his plea of guilty and a pending rape charge against him was dismissed. Defendant Cherry who had no prior felony convictions on his record and who availed himself of his right to a jury trial, now receives a reduced sentence of six to eighteen years from this court. Under the circumstances of this case, this court should have reduced the defendant Cherry’s sentence to the same as that of the co-defendant Gilbert. People v. Jones, 118 Ill.App.2d 189. The majority opinion in this case will have a chilling effect on many charged with crime who may wish to exercise their right to a jury trial.