Opinion ID: 458655
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Evidence of Other Crimes and Bad Acts.

Text: 32 Herbert McDaniel contends that evidence of the drug transactions which occurred on September 7 and October 5 was improperly admitted by the court. Fed.R.Evid. 404(b) provides that evidence of prior crimes or bad acts is admissible to prove any relevant issue other than the character of the defendant or his propensity toward criminal activity. We have, however, set out the following criteria for the admission of evidence of prior crimes or bad acts: (1) the evidence is relevant to an issue in question other than that of the character of the defendant, (2) there is clear and convincing evidence that the defendant committed the prior acts, and (3) the potential unfair prejudice of the evidence does not substantially outweigh its probative value. United States v. Evans, 697 F.2d 240, 247-48 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 460 U.S. 1086, 103 S.Ct. 1779, 76 L.Ed.2d 352 (1983). See also United States v. Simon, 767 F.2d 524, 526 (8th Cir.1985); United States v. Nabors, 761 F.2d 465, 470 (8th Cir. May 6, 1985); United States v. Wagoner, 713 F.2d 1371, 1375 (8th Cir.1983). 33 Broad discretion is afforded the trial judge in deciding whether to admit wrongful act evidence and his decision will not be overturned without a clear showing that the requirements have not been met. Evans, 697 F.2d at 248. See also Nabors, 761 F.2d at 471; Simon, 767 F.2d at 526. Herbert McDaniel contends that the evidence is not clear and convincing that he participated in the drug transactions on September 7 and October 5, and that the prejudicial effect of the evidence outweighed its probative value. We have noted that there is substantial circumstantial evidence tending to show that Herbert McDaniel was a participant in those transactions, and it was not an abuse of discretion for the court to find that the evidence was clear and convincing. It was also not an abuse of discretion for the court to find that the probative value of the evidence outweighed its potential prejudicial effect. Therefore, evidence of the drug transactions on September 7 and October 5 was properly admitted by the court under Fed.R.Evid. 404(b). 34 Herbert McDaniel also contends that the court erred in admitting into evidence several firearms, a scale and a quantity of cocaine, all of which were seized from his apartment during the search on November 29. He argues that the evidence was not sufficiently linked to him, and that its probative value was outweighed by its potential prejudicial effect on the jury. See Fed.R.Evid. 403. All of these challenged items of evidence were found in Herbert McDaniel's apartment at 3244 Harrison, and we cannot say simply because they were not checked for fingerprints that they are not sufficiently linked to him. We also observe that the scale, the cocaine and the firearms 4 all were of great probative value at trial. It was not an abuse of discretion for the trial judge to admit these items into evidence. 35