A Greene County defendant was on trial for attempted felonious assault after he beat his wife when he learned she was having an affair. The trial judge allowed the prosecutor, over objections by the defense, to introduce evidence of three other domestic violence incidents where the defendant beat his wife. But Evidence Rule 404(B) prohibits the use of other bad acts by the defendant to prove that the defendant acted badly in the case for which he is being tried. There are exceptions to 404(B) - like if the other bad acts are being presented to show motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident - but the Second District Court of Appeals for Greene County determined none of those applied.
The Greene County Assistant Prosecutor argued and the judge agreed that the prior bad acts should come in to show the victim's state of mind - to show why the victim did not try to escape from the defendant. The problem with that was the victim's testimony where she said she DID try to escape but the defendant physically prevented her from doing so.
Since the prior bad acts could not be admitted for any of the exceptions to 404(B) and the "state of mind" justification did not fit here, the Court of Appeals determined that the trial judge abused his discretion in admitting the prior bad acts, reversed the conviction and remanded the case to the trial court as you can read here.
If you are accused of a crime or have been convicted already, contact me if you can afford to hire a private criminal defense lawyer. Otherwise, contact your county or state public defender to see if they can help.
