People v. Prater

Defendant, James Prater, appeals from an order of the circuit court of Madison County finding him in direct criminal contempt of court for refusing to testify at the trial of a codefendant. Defendant was sentenced to serve a six-month term of imprisonment. After defendant filed his notice of appeal, the trial court modified its original sentence to deny him credit for good behavior. Two issues are presented for our review: (1) whether the trial court erred in ordering defendant to testify and in holding him in contempt for refusing to testify where the State had not offered him a grant of…