People v. Childrous

Following a jury trial, defendant Deearlise Childrous was found guilty of murder and armed robbery and sentenced to natural life and 30 years’ imprisonment. Defendant raises the following issues for our consideration: (1) whether the trial court’s refusal to bar the admission into evidence of statements of defendant’s accomplice, Tommy Coleman, and the prosecutor’s highlighting of these statements during closing arguments, without any limiting instruction, denied defendant a fair trial; (2) whether the jury instructions for armed robbery were deficient; and (3) whether the victim-impact…