For the third time in less than a month Illinois ct of appeals reverses conviction because of prosecutor's comments

For the third time in about a month the Illinois Court of Appeals has reversed a conviction because of comments made by the prosecutor. The most recent case is called People v Adams and it is available here. For a discussion of the previous two cases go here and here.

In Adams, the prosecutor attempted to argue against the allegation that a police officer planted evidence on the defendant by pointing out that the officer was an 8 ½-year veteran police officer and that it was illogical that he (and another officer) would risk their jobs, their freedom and their reputations over 0.8 grams of cocaine if they had lied about finding the cocaine.

The Court of Appeals found the comments improper concluding that the prosecutor was attempting to bolster the witnesses’ testimony by suggesting that they had more credibility simply because they were police officers. The Court also concluded that the defendant was prejudiced by the comments because the evidence was "closely balanced."