People v. Faria

Following a bench trial, defendant Cynthia Faria was found guilty of possession of a stolen motor vehicle (625 ILCS 5/4 — 103(a)(1) (West 2008)) and was sentenced to a term of six years’ imprisonment, to be followed by a two-year period of mandatory supervised release. On appeal, defendant contends she was denied the right to a fair trial because the trial court: (1) limited defense counsel’s ability to cross-examine the State’s witnesses and advocated for the State by taking over the cross-examination of the State’s witnesses; (2) demonstrated bias against defense counsel that evidenced a…