People v. Cooper

I concur in the majority’s holding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in its response to the jury’s inquiry. I respectfully dissent from the majority’s decision to affirm defendant’s conviction for heinous battery because I believe that the evidence of severe and permanent disfigurement was not sufficient to uphold such conviction based on People v. O’Neal, 257 Ill. App. 3d 490 (1993).

In O’Neal, this court reversed a conviction for heinous battery, finding that the State "offered no evidence of severe and permanent disfigurement” to the victim. O’Neal, 257 Ill. App. 3d at 494.…