People v. Sims

Defendant, Gordon Sims, was convicted of first degree murder after a jury trial and was sentenced to 40 years’ imprisonment. On appeal, Sims argues that: (1) the State, during closing argument, erroneously implied that a State witness had changed his testimony at trial because he was afraid of the defendant; (2) the jury was improperly allowed to view a mug shot of defendant, which showed that he had been previously arrested for another crime; (3) the trial court erroneously admitted inadmissible hearsay evidence that improperly bolstered the credibility of a crucial State witness; (4) the…