People v. Walton

Having been found guilty of forgery following a bench trial, the defendant, Tyronie Walton, was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of not less than one nor more than three years. In her post-trial motion, the defendant raised for the first time the issue of whether she effectively waived a jury trial.

This court has recently determined that the failure even to bring the absence of a jury waiver to the trial court’s attention in a post-trial motion does not waive the issue since the absence of an effective waiver of a jury trial may be considered plain error. (People v. Banks (1979), 71 Ill.…