ROCKFORD, Ill. (AP) — A judge has denied a new trial for a northern Illinois man convicted of first-degree murder and home invasion in the 2014 shooting deaths of a woman, her two sons and her boyfriend.
The Rockford Register Star reports that a defense attorney for 24-year-old Calvin L. Carter III requested a new trial Wednesday, citing an array of errors committed by two judges.
First Deputy Public Defender Nick Zimmerman says that among those errors was a failure to declare a mistrial when two of the victims’ relatives stood up and yelled or spoke to Carter during the trial. He says the outbursts influenced the jury.
Associate Judge Fernando Engelsma denied the motion after the prosecution said there’s a lack of evidence to show jurors knew relatives made the outbursts.
