People v. Butler

              NO. 4-04-0795 Filed 12/28/07
IN THE APPELLATE COURT
OF ILLINOIS
FOURTH DISTRICT
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, ) Appeal from
Plaintiff-Appellee, ) Circuit Court of
v. ) Cass County
LISA Y. BUTLER, ) No. 02CF118
Defendant-Appellant. )
) Honorable
) David K. Slocum,
) Judge Presiding.
_________________________________________________________________
JUSTICE KNECHT delivered the opinion of the court:
In June 2004, a jury convicted defendant, Lisa Y.
Butler, of one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse (720
ILCS 5/12-16(f) (West 2000)) against her niece, K.B. (born April
5, 1984). In August 2004, the trial court sentenced defendant to
four years' probation. Defendant appeals, arguing (1) the State
erroneously introduced expert testimony that bolstered K.B.'s
credibility; (2) the admission of other-crimes evidence was
erroneous in that it engendered unfair prejudice that outweighed
any probative value; (3) the trial court erred by not giving a
contemporaneous admonition the jury should disregard evidence of
other crimes when that evidence surfaced at trial; and (4) the
State failed to prove her guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. We
affirm.
I. BACKGROUND
On October 29, 2002, the State charged defendant and
her husband, John Butler, with committing sex offenses against
their niece, K.B. The offenses involved two separate incidents