People v. Cross

Defendant, Terence Cross, appeals his conviction for second degree murder, contending that (1) the circuit court erred in sustaining .hearsay objections to his attempts to testify to his state of mind prior to the shooting; (2) the verdict forms given to the jury improperly denied him a fair trial; (3) the second degree murder statute is unconstitutional; (4) the prosecutor’s comments during closing argument improperly denied him a fair trial; and (5) his sentence was excessive.

Defendant shot and killed John Mack Connor. The State charged him with first degree murder; he claimed that he acted…