People v. Crowder

Following a jury trial, defendant, Thomas Crowder1 was convicted of two counts of attempted murder, armed violence and aggravated battery on a public way, and sentenced to concurrent terms of 12 years on each count of attempted murder. On appeal, defendant contends that: (1) the trial court improperly admitted hearsay evidence at trial; (2) evidence of the victim’s medical condition improperly aroused the sympathy of the jury; and (3) the prosecutor made improper remarks during rebuttal closing argument, thereby denying his right to a fair trial. For the following reasons, we affirm the…