Court Opinion

ID: 9526701
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 03:22:27.922215+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:21:12.058951
License: Public Domain

Mr. JUSTICE GEORGE J. MORAN, dissenting: I disagree with the conclusions reached by the majority concerning our holding in People v. Butler, 31 Ill. App. 3d 433, 344 N.E.2d 831. I also believe that the defendant was denied a fair trial before an impartial jury in violation of the sixth amendment to the Constitution of the United States by the argument of the assistant State’s attorney who deliberately put the jury in the position of prosecutor. The error was compounded when the trial judge overruled defendant’s objection to this totally unwarranted and inflammatory argument. I was always of the opinion that the test of whether a defendant received a fair trial was not based upon the degree of defendant’s culpability, but whether he received a fair trial.