People v. Whitney

Following a jury trial in the circuit court of Cook County the defendant, James Whitney, was found guilty of aggravated battery and sentenced to a term of five years. On appeal Whitney argues: (1) the jury was not properly instructed regarding the State’s burden of proof on the issue of self-defense; (2) he was deprived of his right to be presumed innocent by the prosecutor’s comment on his failure to call an occurrence witness; and (3) the prosecutor’s comments in closing argument deprived him of a fair trial.

It is not disputed that in the late afternoon or early evening of June 11, 1977,…