People v. Pacheco

Summary

The Illinois Supreme Court reversed the appellate court’s judgment, holding that the trial court did not violate Pacheco’s confrontation rights by barring a question about whether the police officer feared losing his job, because the restriction avoided prejudicial evidence and Pacheco had other means to impeach the officer. The court also held that the trial court properly excluded questioning about the officers’ failure to prepare police reports because they lacked discretion to prepare them and the issue was irrelevant to their individual credibility. The cause was remanded for consideration of Pacheco’s unresolved prosecutorial-misconduct and presentence-credit claims.