Opinion ID: 2061361
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Evidence Connecting Defendant to Extrinsic Offenses

Text: Evidence of extrinsic offenses to prove identity is relevant only if the defendant in fact committed the extrinsic offenses. If the defendant is known to have committed an extrinsic offense with a unique modus operandi, then the extrinsic offense is admissible to prove the identity of a criminal who committed a charged crime with that same, unique modus operandi. Without evidence connecting the extrinsic offense to the defendant, such evidence would impugn the defendant's character without being probative of identity. The necessity of proving the defendant committed the extrinsic offense is a threshold. It is preliminary to determining whether the evidence is probative of any issue in the case and whether its probative value outweighs its prejudicial effect. The question turns on what standard a trial court should use to judge whether the defendant committed the extrinsic offense. Frequently, the State establishes the defendant committed the extrinsic offense through an eyewitness. E.g., Bruce v. State (1978), 268 Ind. 180, 375 N.E.2d 1042, cert. denied, 439 U.S. 988, 99 S.Ct. 586, 58 L.Ed.2d 662. This Court has also relied on circumstantial evidence to show that the defendant committed the extrinsic offenses. See Foust v. State (1981), Ind., 428 N.E.2d 776 (defendant brought into apartment television stolen during extrinsic offense). Before making this threshold decision concerning evidence on the extrinsic offenses, Judge Spencer asked the prosecutor whether the State could connect Gibbs to the extrinsic burglary. The State connected Gibbs to the extrinsic burglaries through his girlfriend's testimony. She said Gibbs brought the stolen property from the extrinsic burglaries into the house. The probative value of this testimony, of course, was the same as that of her testimony concerning the charged offenses. This evidence was similar to the testimony approved in Foust. Judge Spencer properly found that White's testimony was sufficient to establish Gibbs as the perpetrator of the extrinsic burglaries.