People v. Wallace

State: Illinois

Court: 5th District Appellate

Docket No: 5-08-0598 Rel

Case Date: 07/13/2010

Preview:Rule 23 Order filed June 18, 2010; Motion to publish granted July 13, 2010

NO. 5-08-0598 IN THE APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS

FIFTH DISTRICT __________________________________________________________________ ______ THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, ) Appeal from the ) Circuit Court of Plaintiff-Appellee, ) Madison County. ) v. ) No. 04-CF-2401 ) CHADWICK WALLACE, ) Honorable ) Charles V. Romani, Jr., Defendant-Appellant. ) Judge, presiding. __________________________________________________________________ ______ JUSTICE SPOM ER delivered the opinion of the court: On direct appeal, the defendant, Chadwick W allace, argues that the trial court erred by failing to conduct an adequate jury voir dire under Supreme Court Rule 431(b) (Official Reports Advance Sheet No. 8 (April 11, 2007), R. 431(b), eff. May 1, 2007). For the following reasons, we affirm. FACTS The defendant was charged with the murder of Jessie Emery and the dismemberment of his body, stemming from an incident that occurred on August 28, 2004, in Madison County. During voir dire, the trial court brought in the 33 prospective jurors and divided them into three groups within the courtroom. Addressing the entire venire, the trial court described the following "basic concepts of criminal law": (1) the defendant is presumed innocent and this presumption remains throughout the trial until all the evidence is presented and the jury is convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty, (2) the burden is

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on the State to prove the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, (3) the defendant does not have to prove anything or present any evidence, if he does not want to, (4) the defendant does not have to testify, and (5) if the defendant does not put on any evidence or does not testify, the jurors are not to consider that in deciding the guilt or innocence of the defendant. The trial court stated to the entire venire, "Now, that is the basic concept of criminal law that we follow in this country and that will be followed in this case." Next, the trial court asked whether any of the venire knew anything about the case before they came to the courthouse. After doing so, the court then stated: "Okay, back up here. I

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