State v. Calhoun

Summary

The court affirmed the defendant’s murder conviction, holding that the trial court adequately cautioned the jury about the credibility of two cooperating witnesses, properly admitted their cooperation agreements, and reasonably limited cross-examination concerning one witness’s prior arrest. The court concluded that the requested jailhouse-informant instruction was unnecessary because the jury received substantially equivalent warnings tailored to cooperating eyewitnesses. It also determined that the agreements did not improperly vouch for the witnesses and that the excluded arrest details had limited relevance to veracity and posed a risk of sidetracking the trial.