People v. Pursley

Defendant, Patrick Pursley, appeals his conviction of first degree murder. Pursley contends (1) the State did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he committed murder; (2) prejudicial and irrelevant evidence was improperly admitted; (3) the prosecutor engaged in purposeful misconduct in his opening statement; (4) the court failed to determine the voluntariness of a prior inconsistent statement; and (5) his sentence of natural life imprisonment is an abuse of discretion. We affirm.

On April 2, 1993, at approximately 10 p.m., Andrew Asher and his girlfriend, Becky George, were seated in a…