2021 IL App (2d) 190009-U No. 2-19-0009 Order filed April 26, 2020
NOTICE: This order was filed under Supreme Court Rule 23(b) and is not precedent except in the limited circumstances allowed under Rule 23(e)(1). ______________________________________________________________________________
IN THE
APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS
SECOND DISTRICT ______________________________________________________________________________
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE ) Appeal from the Circuit Court OF ILLINOIS, ) of De Kalb County. ) Plaintiff-Appellee, ) ) v. ) No. 17-CF-315 ) DEONTAYE BRADLEY, ) Honorable ) Robbin J. Stuckert, Defendant-Appellant. ) Judge, Presiding. ______________________________________________________________________________
JUSTICE BRENNAN delivered the judgment of the court. Justices Hutchinson and Hudson concurred in the judgment.
ORDER
¶1 Held: Defendant’s conviction of armed violence was supported by (1) the presence of a handgun under the front passenger seat where defendant was sitting when the car was stopped by the police, (2) social media videos of defendant and his fellow occupants from the hours preceding the stop establishing defendant’s knowledge of the gun, and (3) defendant’s immediate access to the gun from its position under the seat.
¶2 During the early morning hours of April 29, 2017, defendant, Deontaye Bradley, was a
front-seat passenger in a vehicle that was stopped for a traffic violation. A subsequent search of
defendant revealed a clear plastic bag containing 11 individually packaged pills that later tested
positive for amphetamine. A gun was located under the front passenger seat. Following a bench 2021 IL App (2d) 190009-U
trial, defendant was found guilty of, inter alia, armed violence (720 ILCS 5/33A-2(a) (West 2016))
and sentenced to 17 years in prison. On appeal, defendant argues that the State failed to prove him
guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of armed violence because the State failed to establish that
defendant had knowledge of the gun or immediate access to it. For the reasons that follow, we
affirm.
¶3 I. BACKGROUND
¶4 Defendant was indicted on five counts and subsequently tried on the following charges:
count I, armed violence, in that defendant, while armed with a dangerous weapon, committed the
felony of unlawful possession of a controlled substance (id.); count III, unlawful possession of a
controlled substance with intent to deliver (720 ILCS 570/401(c)(7.5)(i) (West 2016)); count IV,
unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon (720 ILCS 5/24-1.1(a) (West 2016)); and count V,
obstructing identification (id. § 31-4.5(a)).
¶5 The relevant evidence presented at defendant’s bench trial established the following.
¶6 A. The Traffic Stop
¶7 City of De Kalb police detective Kris Mecca testified that at about 1:47 a.m. on April 29,
2017, he conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle owned by Kenneth Neal. There were five individuals
in the vehicle—Ricky Burrage was the driver, defendant was in the front passenger seat, Neal sat
behind Burrage, Rajun Hughes sat in the middle of the back seat, and James Black sat behind
defendant. Mecca testified that Burrage drove the vehicle into an angled parking space and Mecca
positioned his vehicle behind it. Defendant and Black exited the vehicle on the passenger side.
Mecca immediately exited his vehicle and requested additional police units. Defendant and Black
got about five to ten feet away from Neal’s vehicle before Mecca blocked their path and ordered
them to get back into the vehicle. Defendant reentered the front passenger seat of the vehicle;
-2- 2021 IL App (2d) 190009-U
Black walked around the back of the vehicle and entered through the rear driver’s side door, sitting
directly behind the driver. Mecca testified that defendant and Black were back in the vehicle within
five to ten seconds; it was “very, very quick.” Mecca stated that, as defendant and Black were
coming at him, “in [his] peripheral vision [he] was looking at the vehicle but [his] primary focus
was on [defendant] and Mr. Black.” As defendant reentered the vehicle, Mecca remained standing
at the front passenger door; the window was partially down. Mecca was able to view everyone in
the vehicle as defendant and Black reentered. When Black entered, Neal and Hughes shifted over
so that Hughes was now sitting behind defendant. Mecca ordered everyone to place their hands on
either the dashboard or the back of the seat in front of them. Mecca did not see anyone reach below
the front passenger seat. Numerous backup officers arrived within about two minutes.
¶8 Mecca testified that, while standing at the front passenger door, he observed “a clear plastic
cup with partial liquid,” which Mecca suspected to be alcohol, on the floor near defendant’s feet.
Mecca could smell the odor of alcohol emanating from the vehicle. Mecca asked defendant for his
identification. Defendant first identified himself as Dontaye L. Bradley, whom Mecca believed to
be defendant’s brother. Mecca provided that name to dispatch and requested an image. After
receiving the image, Mecca was able to confirm that defendant had given an incorrect name. In
the meantime, a canine positively alerted to the odor of narcotics coming from the vehicle. One of
the officers recognized Hughes, who was now sitting behind defendant, as having an outstanding
warrant. Hughes was the first individual removed from the vehicle. Mecca next asked defendant
to exit the vehicle. When Mecca advised defendant that he believed that defendant had given an
incorrect name, defendant provided Mecca with his true name.
¶9 Mecca testified that another officer searched defendant and recovered from his front left
pants pocket a clear plastic bag containing 11 individually packaged pills, which Mecca believed
-3- 2021 IL App (2d) 190009-U
to be “ecstasy.” The parties stipulated that the pills later tested positive for amphetamine. Mecca
further testified that a search of the vehicle revealed a gun located under the front passenger seat
and a half-empty bottle of Hennessey on the back right floorboard. Mecca identified People’s
exhibit No. 9 as a photograph of the bottle of Hennessey found in the vehicle.
¶ 10 Mecca testified that defendant was arrested and transported to the police station. At the
time of the arrest, defendant was wearing “a blue jacket *** with a blue hood, a gray shirt
underneath and a darker colored collar with white pants.” Mecca identified People’s exhibit No. 5
as a video recording of the booking room at the police station. Mecca identified defendant in the
video and testified that defendant was wearing the same clothing that he was wearing when he was
arrested. Mecca also identified Neal in the video, who can be seen wearing a gray hooded
sweatshirt and gray sweat pants, which Mecca believed were identical to the clothing that Neal
was wearing when arrested.
¶ 11 B. The Search of the Vehicle and Discovery of the Gun
¶ 12 City of De Kalb police detective Sonny Streit testified that he arrived on the scene and saw
Mecca standing at the front passenger window speaking with defendant. There were other
individuals still in the vehicle. Streit searched the vehicle after all individuals had exited. Streit
started his search on the front driver’s side, where he located a small bag of cannabis in the
cupholder and another in the center console. Streit then walked around the vehicle to search the
front passenger side. Streit observed a small silver LG cellphone on the seat and two clear plastic
cups, with an odor of alcohol emanating from them, on the floor. Streit testified: “As I drop down
to look underneath the passenger seat I see what I believe to be a firearm.” Streit stated: “I get
down on one knee. I—I have gloves on at the time. I pull the firearm out from its location. I confirm
that it is a firearm.” Streit could not see the gun when he was standing outside of the passenger
-4- 2021 IL App (2d) 190009-U
door. Streit testified: “As I started to kneel I could see the very top of the firearm.” His knee had
not yet touched the ground when he saw the gun; he was “about halfway from standing to taking
a knee.” Streit stated: “[T]he front barrel, the very top of the gun was perfectly aligned with the
front of the seat because as I’m standing there looking down I can’t see it. As I kneel down about
halfway I can see it.” Streit testified:
“I grabbed onto the firearm on the top. I pulled it out approximately six inches. I
saw that, in fact, it did have a serial number, said ‘Springfield’ on the side .40 caliber of
XD, and I left it where it was. I told Detective Mecca what I located. I made sure everyone
was safely taken into custody and then I went back to the vehicle.”
Streit testified that, after everyone was secured, about five minutes after he first discovered the
gun, Streit “placed the firearm back to where it was before [he] moved it” and then photographed
it. Streit did not change the orientation of the gun. Streit stated that he “put it back to the
approximate spot where [he] saw it.” Streit agreed that it was “an approximation,” but he believed
that it was “as close to” its original location as he thought. Streit also estimated that the passenger
seat was about “two feet front to back.”
¶ 13 Streit identified People’s exhibit No. 10 as the photograph he took of “the front passenger
side of the vehicle pointing at the floorboard showing what just [sic] barely under the seat where
the firearm was.” A portion of the gun can be seen in the photograph. Streit identified People’s
exhibit No. 11 as the photograph he took of the gun. The photograph shows the gun under the seat,
with the barrel pointed toward the driver’s side and the handle toward the back of the car. Streit
identified People’s exhibit No. 1 as the gun that he recovered from under the passenger seat. Streit
testified that the gun was loaded with five bullets when it was recovered.
¶ 14 C. The Subsequent Investigation and Snapchat Evidence
-5- 2021 IL App (2d) 190009-U
¶ 15 Mecca testified that he interviewed defendant on the day of the arrest, shortly before 3 a.m.
Defendant told him that the pills he possessed were “ecstasy pills.” Defendant denied that he
intended to sell them; defendant told Mecca that they were for him to share with his friends that
evening to celebrate. When Mecca told defendant about the firearm found in the vehicle, defendant
denied having any knowledge of it.
¶ 16 Mecca testified that he collected a gunshot residue sample from defendant’s hands. Mecca
did not receive results from the lab of the samples taken that night. When asked about whether he
had the gun tested for fingerprints, Mecca responded:
“I submitted—Officer Goodwin processed the gun for fingerprints. The gun—I believe the
magazine and bullets, I submitted it to the Illinois State Police crime lab to see if there’s
any comparison with any of the five occupants and I received a report back that there was
no comparison available for any of the five occupants in reference to the fingerprints that
Officer Goodwin completed and that I submitted.”
¶ 17 Mecca further testified that, later on the day of the arrest, he was contacted by Deidra
Laseter, who told him that she was defendant’s sister and that she had information about the traffic
stop. When Mecca later met with Laseter, she told him that her friend Devonna Scott had provided
her with a photograph that was on Neal’s Snapchat account and a video that was on defendant’s
Snapchat account. Mecca explained that Snapchat is a “messenger application that individuals can
send photos or videos and add filters to the videos, and the caveat of Snapchat is that after a certain
amount of time these videos are be to [sic] purged and the messages are purged unless they’re
actually saved, so it’s a mobile application.” After viewing the photograph provided by Laseter,
Mecca subsequently executed a search warrant of defendant’s phone and of the Snapchat accounts
belonging to defendant and Neal. Mecca identified People’s exhibit No. 4 as the DVD containing
-6- 2021 IL App (2d) 190009-U
the images and videos obtained from Snapchat. The parties stipulated that the Snapchat account
with the username “boss_dip” belonged to defendant and that the Snapchat account with the
username “Lil Oochie” belonged to Neal.
¶ 18 Mecca identified two Snapchat videos showing defendant. The first was a video from
Neal’s Snapchat account. Mecca testified that the video showed a person’s arm holding a bottle of
Hennessey. According to Mecca, the clothing on the arm appeared to be similar to the clothing
worn by Neal when he was arrested. Mecca testified that defendant can be seen sitting in the front
passenger seat of what appeared to be Neal’s vehicle holding a handgun that appeared to be
identical to the handgun retrieved from the vehicle. Mecca testified that defendant was wearing
clothing identical to the clothing that he was wearing when arrested and as shown in the booking
video.
¶ 19 The second video was from defendant’s Snapchat account. Mecca testified that the video
showed: defendant, wearing the same jacket that he was wearing when arrested; Hughes, wearing
a “rag on his head” similar to what he was wearing when arrested; and Neal, wearing the gray
sweatshirt and sweatpants that he was wearing when arrested. Neal “appears as though he’s waving
the handgun that appears similar in size, shape and color” to the handgun that was recovered from
the vehicle. (Neal can also be seen holding a bottle of Hennessey in his other hand.) A caption on
the video reads: “my boii bday at 12,” followed by several emojis. Mecca testified that Neal’s
birthday was on April 29, 1991.
¶ 20 Mecca testified to other videos that did not show defendant. Mecca testified to a video from
Neal’s account showing Neal holding what appeared to be a handgun and standing in front of an
unidentified individual. Mecca also testified to a video from defendant’s account showing Black
with an unidentified person holding a gun.
-7- 2021 IL App (2d) 190009-U
¶ 21 Mecca also testified to photographs obtained from Snapchat. Mecca identified a
photograph from Neal’s Snapchat account showing a timestamp of “6:38 a.m.” and a caption, that
read: “Jus got out dey took my [car emoji] my [phone emoji] n my [gun emoji] n my homie free
Dip.” Mecca testified that the Snapchat file showed only the post’s caption and time stamp.
However, Laseter had earlier shown him a screenshot of this post, and her screenshot had the same
timestamp and caption and also a photograph of Neal behind the caption. Mecca identified
People’s exhibit No. 20 as the screenshot that he obtained from Laseter. Mecca also identified a
photograph from defendant’s Snapchat account showing a bottle of Hennessy and a gun that
appeared to be identical to the gun recovered from under defendant’s seat and a photograph from
Neal’s Snapchat account showing a “Springfield XD40 which appears to be identical in shape, size
and color to the firearm that was located under [defendant’s] seat at the time of the arrest.”
¶ 22 Mecca testified that this was his first time executing a search warrant with Snapchat. Except
for the “6:38 a.m.” post from Neal, Mecca was unable, despite his efforts, to locate time stamps or
date stamps on any of the videos or photographs showing when they were created.
¶ 23 On cross-examination, Mecca testified that Hughes was arrested along with defendant.
Mecca acknowledged that, when Hughes was released on the morning of April 29, 2017, he asked
Mecca “either ‘Can I get my gun—I mean my phone’ or it was ‘Can I get my gun—my phone
back?’, one of those, something to the effect of that where he did correct himself from saying ‘my
gun’ to ‘my phone.’ ” Mecca noted Hughes’s statement in a report. Mecca also testified that he
never saw defendant make any furtive movements. Mecca testified that Neal pleaded guilty to
possessing the gun found in the vehicle.
¶ 24 The trial court found defendant guilty on all charges. The trial court denied defendant’s
subsequent motion to reconsider the finding of guilt or, alternatively, for a new trial. The parties
-8- 2021 IL App (2d) 190009-U
agreed that the convictions should merge into the armed violence conviction and that defendant
should be sentenced on only that offense. Following a sentencing hearing, the court sentenced
defendant to 17 years in prison, to be served at 50%, followed by a three-year term of mandatory
supervised released. The court denied defendant’s subsequent motion for reconsideration of his
sentence.
¶ 25 This timely appeal followed.
¶ 26 II. ANALYSIS
¶ 27 Defendant argues that he was not proved guilty beyond reasonable doubt of armed
violence. “A person commits armed violence when, while armed with a dangerous weapon, he
commits any felony defined by Illinois Law [with certain exceptions not relevant here].” 720 ILCS
5/33A-2(a) (West 2016). Defendant does not dispute that he committed a felony—unlawful
possession of a controlled substance—or that the gun retrieved from under the front passenger seat
was a dangerous weapon. Rather, defendant argues that the evidence was insufficient to prove that
he was “armed” with the gun.
¶ 28 In reviewing a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, “the question is ‘whether, after
viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could
have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.’ ” (Emphasis in
original.) People v. McLaurin, 2020 IL 124563, ¶ 22 (quoting Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307,
319 (1979)). “This standard of review applies in all criminal cases, whether the evidence is direct
or circumstantial. [Citation.] Further, circumstantial evidence that meets this standard is sufficient
to sustain a criminal conviction. [Citation.]” People v. Jackson, 2020 IL 124112, ¶ 64. The trier of
fact is responsible for resolving conflicts in the testimony, weighing the evidence, and drawing
reasonable inferences from basic facts to ultimate facts. McLaurin, 2020 IL 124563, ¶ 22. “In
-9- 2021 IL App (2d) 190009-U
reviewing the evidence, this court will not retry the defendant, nor will we substitute our judgment
for that of the trier of fact.” Id. We will not set aside a criminal conviction unless the evidence is
so improbable or unsatisfactory that it creates a reasonable doubt of the defendant’s guilt. People
v. Collins, 106 Ill. 2d 237, 261 (1985).
¶ 29 A person is “armed with a dangerous weapon,” for purposes of the armed violence statute,
“when he or she carries on or about his or her person or is otherwise armed with a [dangerous]
weapon.” 720 ILCS 5/33A-1(c)(1) (West 2016). Here, the State did not contend that defendant
was carrying the gun on his person, so the question is whether defendant was “otherwise armed”
(id.). To be “otherwise armed” means “having immediate access to or timely control over” the
dangerous weapon. People v. Harre, 155 Ill. 2d 392, 396 (1993); People v. Condon, 148 Ill. 2d 96,
110 (1992). To be “otherwise armed” also requires that a defendant have knowledge of the
presence of the weapon. See People v. Adams, 265 Ill. App. 3d 181, 186 (1994) (finding that the
defendant’s knowledge was reasonably inferred from the fact that the defendant was wearing the
garment in which the weapon was found). Defendant argues that the State failed to prove beyond
a reasonable doubt that he had knowledge of the presence of the gun located under the passenger
seat or that he had immediate access to it during his interactions with Mecca.
¶ 30 In arguing that the evidence was insufficient to prove his knowledge of the gun’s presence,
defendant relies on People v. Thomas, 242 Ill. App. 3d 266, 276-77 (1993), and People v.
McKnight, 39 Ill. 2d 577, 580-81 (1968). At issue in Thomas was whether the defendant was
armed during a drug transaction that involved drugs located in a car several parking spaces away
from the Oldsmobile in which defendant was seated. Thomas, 242 Ill. App. 3d at 276-77. In finding
that the defendant was armed, we specifically noted his codefendant’s testimony that the defendant
knew there was a gun behind the armrest of the Oldsmobile where defendant had remained during
- 10 - 2021 IL App (2d) 190009-U
the transaction. Id. at 276. In McKnight, the supreme court found that the circumstantial evidence
was sufficient to prove knowledge, where the defendant “made motions with his right hand and a
dipping motion of the shoulder prior to being stopped; his companion was armed; and the pistol
was found loaded under [the defendant’s] seat.” McKnight, 39 Ill. 2d at 581. As defendant correctly
observes, unlike in Thomas, none of the individuals in the car testified to defendant’s knowledge
of the gun. Likewise, defendant made no furtive movements suggesting his knowledge of the gun
as in McKnight.
¶ 31 The State counters that the Snapchat evidence, along with how defendant was situated vis-
à-vis the gun, circumstantially proves that defendant had knowledge of the gun. Defendant argues
that the circumstantial evidence here is insufficient. We disagree.
¶ 32 Here, based on the Snapchat evidence and the location of the gun, a rational trier of fact
could have reasonably inferred that defendant knew that the gun was under the passenger seat
where he was sitting. The video from Neal’s Snapchat account showed the arm of an individual
wearing a gray sweatshirt, whom Mecca reasonably believed to Neal, holding a bottle of
Hennessey. That same video also showed defendant, wearing the identical clothing that he was
wearing at the time of his arrest, sitting in the front passenger seat of what Mecca reasonably
believed to be Neal’s vehicle, and holding a gun that appeared to be identical to the gun retrieved
from under the front passenger seat. The video from defendant’s Snapchat account showed
defendant, Hughes, and Neal, again wearing the same clothing they were wearing when arrested.
Neal was holding a bottle of Hennessy and a gun that appeared to be identical to the gun retrieved
from under the front passenger seat. A caption on the video read: “my boii bday at 12,” followed
by several emojis. Mecca testified that Neal’s birthday was on April 29, 1991. Even though Mecca
was unable to provide an exact time or date for the Snapchat videos, a rational trier of fact could
- 11 - 2021 IL App (2d) 190009-U
have reasonably inferred that the videos were made in the hours leading up to the arrest, given that
the parties were wearing the same clothing, an identical gun was found under the front seat, a half-
empty bottle of Hennessy was found in the back seat, and the caption provided that Neal’s birthday
was at midnight.
¶ 33 In addition to the Snapchat evidence, Streit’s testimony established that the gun was found
under the passenger seat at the very front of the seat where defendant was sitting. Streit explained
that he could not see the gun while he was standing but that as he “started to kneel [he] could see
the very top of the firearm.” He stated that “the front barrel, the very top of the gun was perfectly
aligned with the front of the seat.” Streit identified the photographs he took of the gun’s location
under the passenger seat. Defendant disputes that the gun was found “ ‘well forward,’ ” as
described by the State. According to defendant, Streit had to pull it out by six inches to confirm it
was a handgun. To be sure, Streit acknowledged that he moved the gun and then photographed it
after he returned it to its “approximate” location. However, Streit explained that he placed the gun
as close as possible to its original location. Further, Streit’s testimony was unequivocal that when
he first saw the gun the top of the barrel “was perfectly aligned with the front of the seat,” which
supports a reasonable inference that the gun was placed there by defendant. The fact that Streit
pulled the gun out six inches to see it does not mean that the gun was not as he described it when
he first discovered it—with “the very top of the gun *** perfectly aligned with the front of the
seat.”
¶ 34 Defendant argues that the evidence supports a finding that “either Hughes or Neal, who
both later claimed ownership of the gun, placed the gun under the front passenger seat at the point
when Mecca’s attention is elsewhere.” Defendant points to the photograph from Neal’s Snapchat
account stating that his gun had been taken and to Mecca’s testimony that, after the arrest, Hughes
- 12 - 2021 IL App (2d) 190009-U
asked Mecca when he was getting his gun back. Of course, even if Hughes owned the gun, this
fact does not preclude a determination that defendant knew the gun was there. Moreover, given
(1) where Neal and Hughes were sitting in the back of the vehicle, (2) where the gun was found,
and (3) the extremely brief period that defendant and Black were outside of the vehicle, a rational
trier of fact could have readily inferred that neither Neal nor Hughes placed the gun there while
Mecca was directing defendant and Black into the vehicle while it remained in Mecca’s peripheral
vision. We reject too defendant’s argument that the orientation of the gun, with the barrel pointed
toward the driver and the handle pointed toward the back, made it “unlikely” that defendant placed
it under the seat. Defendant could have placed the gun under the seat in several different ways and
its orientation was not inconsistent with defendant placing the gun under the seat. Indeed, the
location of the gun, with its barrel at the front of the two-foot-deep passenger seat, made it less
likely that Hughes or Neal placed it there. Moreover, that Mecca stated he did not see defendant
make any furtive movements before exiting the vehicle certainly can be considered by the jury,
but standing alone does not create a reasonable doubt.
¶ 35 Next, having determined that the circumstantial evidence was sufficient to allow a rational
trier of fact to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant had knowledge of the gun, we
consider whether the evidence was sufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant
had “immediate access to” the gun. See Harre, 155 Ill. 2d at 396; Condon, 148 Ill. 2d at 110. In
Harre, the supreme court held that the defendant, standing next to a vehicle with a partially opened
window, had immediate access to weapons located on the front seat, where officers’ opined that
defendant could have reached the guns. Harre, 155 Ill. 2d at 396-97. In Condon, the supreme court
held that the defendant did not have immediate access to weapons, because the defendant was
found in the kitchen, where there were no guns, and the weapons were in various locations
- 13 - 2021 IL App (2d) 190009-U
throughout the house. Condon, 148 Ill. 2d. at 109-110. The court found that the weapons were “too
far removed from the defendant” (id. at 110) and that he “did not have the capability to maintain
control and possession of guns that were not even in the same room with him” (id. at 112).
¶ 36 Here, as noted, the gun was located underneath the passenger seat aligned with the front of
the seat. It is clear that defendant, who was sitting in the passenger seat, had immediate access to
the gun, as he would have had little difficulty reaching down, grabbing the weapon, and taking
control of it as Mecca approached the vehicle. See People v. Scott, 2011 IL App (2d) 100990, ¶ 30
(finding the defendant guilty of armed violence where, when the police arrived, he was lying on a
couch, a foot or two away from a love seat under which he had placed a shotgun; the defendant
“would have had little difficulty getting up, reaching for the gun, and taking control of it as the
doors of the apartment opened”).
¶ 37 We reject defendant’s argument that, because Streit “could only provide the approximate
location of the gun,” the evidence does not establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the gun was
readily accessible to defendant. First, as noted, Streit testified unequivocally about where the gun
was located before he moved it. That the photograph of the gun’s location was taken by Streit after
he moved it and returned it to its approximate location does not negate Streit’s testimony. Nor is
defendant’s reliance on People v. Melgoza, 231 Ill. App. 3d 510 (1992), of any avail. In Melgoza,
the reviewing court found that the evidence failed to prove that the gun was readily accessible to
the defendant, who was in the front seat of a vehicle, because the officer who testified at trial did
not personally recover the gun, knew only that the gun was recovered “ ‘from the back seat’ ” of
the vehicle, and “did not know if the gun was located under the back seat or in the trunk
compartment.” Id. at 532. Here, Streit personally recovered the gun and testified to its original
location, where it was readily accessible and within defendant’s reach.
- 14 - 2021 IL App (2d) 190009-U
¶ 38 Based on the foregoing, we cannot say that the evidence was so improbable or
unsatisfactory that it created a reasonable doubt of the defendant’s guilt.
¶ 39 III. CONCLUSION
¶ 40 For the reasons stated, we affirm the judgment of the circuit court of De Kalb County.
¶ 41 Affirmed.
- 15 -