People v. Watson

Following a jury trial, defendant Briscoe Watson was convicted of aggravated criminal sexual assault and aggravated kidnaping and was sentenced to 10 years in prison for each offense, with those terms to be served concurrently. On appeal, defendant contends that in closing argument, the prosecution made several prejudicial statements that denied him the right to a fair trial. Defendant also asserts that an omission in the jury instruction that listed the elements of aggravated criminal sexual assault constituted reversible error. For all of the reasons that follow, we affirm defendant’s…