People v. Montgomery

A jury found defendant James Montgomery guilty of the murder of Donald Patterson and he was sentenced to 35 years in prison. A previous jury trial had ended in a mistrial when the jury was unable to agree on a verdict.

On appeal, defendant argues: (1) the trial court erred in refusing to give an accomplice-witness instruction offered by defendant, where there was probable cause to arrest the State’s main witness for the same murder; (2) the State improperly elicited testimony of a prior consistent hearsay statement by its main witness; (3) the State improperly bolstered the credibility of its…