People v. Short

(Modified upon denial of rehearing 12/3/14.) Defendant was charged with attempted first degree murder and other offenses arising from his shooting. At start of voir dire, court read all four counts of indictment, including count alleging he was member of street gang. After jury selection, Defendant pled guilty to unlawful possession of firearm by gang member and aggravated unlawful use of weapon, and then moved to dismiss venire, alleging that venire was tainted by being informed of Defendant's alleged gang membership. Court informed jury it would no longer hear evidence of Defendant's gang membership. Jury was unaffected by any mention of gang membership, as jury acquitted Defendant of attempted first degree murder and convicted him only on lesser charge. Failure to allow Defendant's prior consistent statement to show he had not fabricated his self-defense theory was not prejudicial given substantial evidence against him. (LAVIN and MASON, concurring.)