People v. Minter

(Modified upon denial of rehearing 9/3/15.) Defendant was convicted, after jury trial, of armed robbery and sentenced to 23 years. Defendant was not deprived of fair trial by virtue of jury seeing his tattoos. Court erred in improperly favoring State during its closing argument, and preventing Defendant from arguing that he could draw inference contrary to detective's testimony that he did look for a gun.State's evidence establishing Defendant's guilt was strong, and thus court's error during argument did not threaten to tip balance of evidence against Defendant. Court erred in considering Defendant's pending possession of contraband and aggravated battery charges as aggravating factors, as State presented no evidence as to those charges. Charges likely played more than a minimal role in sentencing; thus, remanded for resentencing.(FITZGERALD SMITH, concurring; COBBS, dissenting.)