People v. Martinez

Following a jury trial, defendant Julio Martinez was found guilty of three counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault and one count of armed robbery. Defendant was sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment on each of his three convictions for aggravated criminal sexual assault and 6 years for armed robbery, the sentences to be served consecutively. On appeal, defendant contends that the trial court erred in finding that the State offered a race-neutral reason for excluding a minority juror and in denying him his right to present a defense by limiting cross-examination of a key State witness and…