People v. Woolbright (71 Ill. App. 3d 365, 1979)

Mr. JUSTICE WOODWARD

delivered the opinion of the court:

Following a jury trial, defendant, Harold Woolbright, was found guilty of theft of property under *150 in value (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1975, ch. 38, par. 16 — 1), and was sentenced to two years probation with the first 60 days to be served on periodic imprisonment. Defendant appeals, contending he was denied a fair trial, first, in that he appeared before the jury during the trial dressed in a county jail uniform, and secondly, by hearsay testimony which was then argued by the State to the jury during closing argument.

The evidence at trial revealed that on April 5,1977, defendant was in a car driven by Donald Sundell when they drove into a Super America gas station at approximately 9:30 p.m. Super America was also a grocery store; cases of various kinds of soda pop were stacked for sale in front of the store. While Sundell ordered gasoline from the attendant, Donald Zentz, defendant went into the store, obtained the restroom key from the cashier, Brenda Schurman, and walked back to the area where the restrooms were located; he then walked back to the front of the store. Defendant handed the restroom key to Zentz and picked up a case of grape soda pop, informing Zentz that he had already paid for the pop inside. Zentz went inside and learned from Ms. Schurman that the soda pop had not been paid for. Zentz went outside and obtained the license number of the car containing Sundell and the defendant as it pulled out of the station. Zentz then called police; when the officers arrived he gave them a description of the car and the two occupants. Both Zentz and Ms. Schurman identified defendant at trial. According to Zentz, defendant appeared to be intoxicated but that it did not appear to interfere with his ability to communicate; Ms. Schurman remembered nothing unusual about defendant’s manner.

After leaving the gas station, defendant and Sundell proceeded to the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Cameron Linder. Defendant asked the Linders if they would like the soda pop for their children; Mr. Linder indicated that they did not care for it. Then, either defendant or Sundell borrowed 50