State v. Clark
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Jermane Clark was convicted of first degree murder and armed criminal action. The prosecution's case against Clark depended principally on the testimony of two witnesses. One of the witnesses, Maurice Payne, claimed to have been an eyewitness to the murder. Previously, Payne had pleaded guilty to unrelated charges before the same judge who presided over Clark's murder trial. Payne admitted that he subjectively hoped that his testimony against Clark would favorably affect his sentence even though Payne's decision to testimony in Clark's case was not motivated by a plea agreement in his own case. Clark's attorney was not permitted to question Payne concerning this potential bias. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the circuit court abused its discretion by refusing Clark the opportunity to cross-examine Payne on whether he was biased, and there was a reasonable probability that the error affected the outcome of the trial. Remanded.
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