People v. Wright

── People v. Wright ── Court: Appellate Court of Illinois Date: June 05, 2026 Category: General 2026 IL App (1st) 240238 No. 1-24-0238 Opinion filed June 5, 2026 FIFTH DIVISION IN THE APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, ) Appeal from the ) Circuit Court of Plaintiff-Appellee, ) Cook County, ) Criminal Division. v. ) ) No. 2019 CR 6028301 CHRISTINA WRIGHT, ) ) Honorable Defendant-Appellant. ) Pamela J. Stratigakis, ) Judge, presiding. PRESIDING JUSTICE MITCHELL delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. Justice Mikva and Justice Wilson concurred in the judgment and opinion. OPINION ¶1 Following a bench trial, defendant Christina Wright appeals her conviction and sentence for financial exploitation of an elderly person (720 ILCS 5/17-56(a) (West 2018)). At issue is (1) whether the evidence was sufficient to convict defendant beyond a reasonable doubt because she contends it did not establish that she obtained control of the victim’s bank account through deception or illegally used her assets; (2) whether the circuit court erred by admitting the victim’s prior testimony in violation of defendant’s rights under the confrontation clause because defendant had insufficient opportunity to cross-examine the victim; (3) whether defendant’s counsel was ineffective for failing to challenge the victim’s competency based on cognitive decline where the No. 1-24-0238 victim lacked recollection during testimony; (4) whether counsel was ineffective for not objecting to evidence pertaining to a bank’s fraud investigation into relevant accounts because it contained hearsay; and (5) whether the circuit court erred in sentencing defendant because it relied on factors inherent to the offense. For the following reasons, we affirm. ¶2 I. BACKGROUND ¶3 Grace Watanabe, the victim, first encountered defendant after moving into a senior living center in Lincoln Park in 2009, according to Watanabe’s testimony at a preliminary hearing. Eager for “something to do,” the 98-year-old Watanabe testified she partook in activities led by defendant as activities director at the facility. ¶4 Watanabe testified that she had accumulated a large sum of money in a Merill Lynch investment account and became concerned about what would happen to her assets if she passed unexpectedly. Watanabe created a list of eleven people she knew “were in need of some financial help” and gave them one check each. At the time of the preliminary hearing, she was uncertain whether defendant was on that list of check recipients but guessed that she was. Watanabe testified that she “never did any online banking,” though she knew how, and had not authorized anyone to transfer funds or open a Bank of America account online on her behalf. ¶5 Nevertheless, the parties stipulated that, between the end of March and early August 2017, five checks totaling over $110,000 were drawn on Watanabe’s accounts and deposited into defendant’s accounts. The last check was the largest: $50,000, with a memo line reading “gift.” The stipulation stated that less than two weeks later, a new Bank of America account was opened online in defe