Suspecting that his pager had been stolen, defendant asked the group where it was. The victim and his companions fled. Defendant then chased the victim into the Burlington Square Mall, caught up to him, and beat him with the small baseball bat. As a result, the victim was hospitalized for three days, sustaining a permanent eye impairment that places him at increased risk for developing glaucoma. First, defendant contends that the court should have excluded evidence of defendant's prior encounters on the date in question.
Defendant argues that the prior altercations and racial slurs introduced unfair prejudice.
We conclude that the trial court reasonably exercised its discretion. The court determined that evidence of defendant's prior altercations was relevant to show his escalating violent behavior. The court also determined that defendant's prior conduct and surrounding occurrences were inherently related to and provided a context for the incident. We agree that the evidence was relevant, and the trial court clearly acted within its sound discretion in balancing the probative value against the prejudicial effect. Second, defendant asserts that the district court should have allowed a defense of diminished capacity due to intoxication.