State v. Rhodes
Annotate this CaseIn this case, the court of appeals reversed Defendant Olu Rhodes's conviction of first-degree intentional homicide and first-degree recklessly endangering safety. Defendant had argued that the circuit court violated his constitutional right to confront a witness when it cut off his cross-examination of a prosecution witness, Defendant's sister, Nari. Defendant's cross-examination sought to cast doubt on the State's theory of the motive in the case, that Rhodes had killed the victim because the victim was responsible for Nari being beaten the day before the shooting of the homicide victim. On review, the Supreme Court reversed, holding that the circuit court reasonably limited Defendant's cross-examination of his sister about incidents of domestic abuse against her by the victim of the homicide to avoid confusing the issues and misleading the jury. This limitation did not prevent Defendant from presenting evidence to rebut the State's theory of Defendant's motive for the crime and to make that argument in closing. Remanded.
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