People v. Thornton

The defendant was charged by information with committing the offense of possessing less than 2.5 grams of cannabis in violation of section 4(a) of the Cannabis Control Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1975, ch. 56½, par. 704(a)). At the conclusion of a jury trial conducted on January 26 and 27, 1976, defendant was found guilty, sentenced to 15 days in the county jail and fined $150 plus costs.

During selection of the jury, the court refused to allow counsel to actively participate in voir dire and the court refused 17 of the 18 written questions submitted by defendant for inclusion in voir dire by the…