Background

• Defendant Jerry Burton was convicted after a bench trial of armed habitual criminal (720 ILCS 5/24-1.7(a)), unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon (720 ILCS 5/24-1.1(a)), and unlawful use of a weapon (720 ILCS 5/24-1(a)(7)(ii)); sentence was six years in prison plus three years mandatory supervised release, with a $400 fine and $310 costs.
• The trial court denied posttrial motions; defendant timely appealed.
• Key trial witnesses included Budnick and Straus, with a shotgun and ammunition admitted as exhibits; Straus provided a written statement after the traffic stop but no evidence introduced from it.
• The State’s closing argument allegedly referenced Straus’s prior consistent statement to police, which had not been admitted into evidence.
• Defendant forfeited the issue by failing to object at trial or raise it in a posttrial motion, but argued plain error on appeal.
• The court ultimately affirmed the judgment as modified to award full credit against the $400 fine for 86 days of pre-sentencing custody.

Issues

Key Cases Cited

• People v. Adams, 2012 IL 111168 (Ill. 2012) (prosecutor’s improper closing remark not supported by admitted evidence})
• People v. McWhite, 399 Ill. App. 3d 637 (2010) (pretrial statements generally inadmissible for corroboration in-trial)
• People v. Wheeler, 226 Ill. 2d 92 (2007) (new trial if improper remarks could have affected conviction (jury trial))
• People v. Naylor, 229 Ill. 2d 584 (2008) (plain error analysis; reversal only if error reversible or evidence closely balanced)
• People v. Herron, 215 Ill. 2d 167 (2005) (plain-error framework for forfeited claims)
• People v. Pelegri, 39 Ill. 2d 568 (1968) (trial court presumed to rely on admissible evidence)
• People v. Johnson, 238 Ill. 2d 478 (2010) (de novo review for ultimate question of plain error)