People v. Colone

Defendant was convicted of two counts of first degree murder and was sentenced to a total of 50 years in prison. On appeal, defendant argued that the trial court erred in allowing the State to introduce a music video created by defendant two months after the homicides, trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to the unauthenticated and inaccurate transcription added by the State to the video, that the trial court erred in allowing the State to introduce photographs of the deceased victims, and that trial court erred in sentencing when it allowed the State to present disciplinary records from a juvenile temporary detention center without a live witness and relied on allegedly improper evidence in aggravation. The appellate court affirmed defendant’s convictions and sentence, finding that the trial court did not err in its admission of evidence based on the facts of the case, that any error was harmless, and that the trial court did not abuse its discretion during sentencing. (VAN TINE and ELLIS, concurring)