Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Court of Appeals holds failure to allow cross examination of co-defendants on possible criminal charges was harmless error

In State v. Curry, Curry sought to cross examine his co-defendants who faced the same murder charges as Curry and had not pled guilty or reached a plea agreement. The trial court refused to allow Curry to cross-examine his co-defendants on the possible sentences they faced because Savage and Simuel had not pled guilty or reached a plea agreement with the State. The Court of Appeals held that the trial court erred in barring the cross-examination of Simuel and Savage on the possible sentences they faced. However, the error was held to be harmless because the testimony given by the co-defendants was not the only evidence of Curry's involvement in the shooting.

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