People v. Holmes

Defendant Marion Holmes and codefendant William Franklin were tried separately and convicted of the murder of Elgin Evans. The State’s key witness at both trials, Ulric Williams, had been present during the murder. In order to protect the credibility of Williams’ testimony at Holmes’ trial, the State characterized Williams as an innocent bystander to the murder and further denied that Williams’ testimony was in any way motivated by an expectation for prosecutorial leniency concerning his involvement in the murder. Holmes filed this appeal arguing that, in light of the evidence in the record,…