People v. VanZile

VanZile was convicted of aggravated kidnapping, armed robbery and burglary by a jury and was sentenced to 20 to 60 years. A co-indictee, Massey, pleaded guilty following plea bargaining, was sentenced to 10 to 30 years and was the star witness against VanZile.

Errors assigned include: improper cross-examination of some defense witnesses — collectively referred to in closing argument as being from the “Menard Penitentiary Witness Bureau”; exclusion of the testimony of one witness whose testimony would have been the same as other witnesses; admission in rebuttal of two prior consistent…