People v. Harris

              No. 3--07-0481
______________________________________________________________________________
Filed March 24, 2009
IN THE
APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS
THIRD DISTRICT
A.D., 2009
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, ) Appeal from the Circuit Court
) of the 12th Judicial Circuit,
Plaintiff-Appellee, ) Will County, Illinois,
)
v. ) No. 02–CF–1191
)
SPENCER HARRIS, ) Honorable
) Robert P. Livas,
Defendant-Appellant. ) Judge, Presiding.
______________________________________________________________________________
JUSTICE WRIGHT delivered the opinion of the court:
______________________________________________________________________________
A jury found defendant Spencer Harris guilty of armed robbery (720 ILCS 5/18-2(a)
(West 2002)). The court sentenced defendant to natural life imprisonment as a habitual criminal
(720 ILCS 5/33B-1 et seq. (West 2002)).
Following his first appeal in People v. Harris, No. 3-03-0523 (2005), this court issued a
mandate to the trial court to consider defendant’s pro se post trial motion. The trial court then
allowed defense counsel to file an amended post trial motion for new trial. Following an
evidentiary hearing, the court denied defendant’s amended motion. Defendant appeals the denial
of his amended motion for new trial on grounds that plain error occurred when the use of the stun
belt denied defendant his constitutional right to testify. We reverse and remand this case to the
trial court on this basis.