People v. Shaw

Defendant was convicted, after jury trial, of possession of a controlled substance and resisting or obstructing a peace officer. Court's finding that Defendant failed to show purposeful discrimination during voir dire was not clearly erroneous. In closing argument, State emphasized that Defendant would not have run from police or resisted them based solely on possession of marijuana. Impact of State's comments were minimized by court's instruction to jury that opening statements and closing arguments are not evidence, and statements made by attorneys not based on evidence should be disregarded. (HOLDER WHITE and STEIGMANN, concurring.)