People v. Craven

Defendant Thomas Craven was convicted of murder by a Cook County jury and sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 50-100 years following an earlier trial in which the jury was unable to agree. He urges on this direct appeal that: (1) the trial court erred in certain of its instructions to the jury; (2) a defense witness was improperly prevented from testifying; (3) he was denied a fair trial by the prosecutor’s use of a prior conviction; (4) the prosecutor was permitted to make prejudicial and inflammatory remarks during cross-examination and closing argument; and (5) he was not proved guilty…