People v. Newell

Following a jury trial, defendant, John Newell, was convicted of possession of a stolen motor vehicle (111. Rev. Stat. 1991, ch. 951/2, par. 4—103(a)(1) (now 625 ILCS 5/4 — 103(a)(1) (West 1992)) and sentenced as a Class X offender to 15 years’ imprisonment. On appeal, defendant asserts that, the State failed (1) to prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt because the evidence failed to prove that he knew the car he was driving was stolen; (2) to meet its burden under Bat-son v. Kentucky (1986), 476 U.S. 79, 90 L. Ed. 2d 69, 106 S. Ct. 1712, since it did not give a racially neutral…