Opinion ID: 365451
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: prior similar acts evidence

Text: 19 Appellant also contests the admission under Fed.R.Evid. 404(b) as prior similar acts of Williams' conviction in 1978 for conspiracy to commit a bank larceny in 1975, and of his conviction in 1972 for receipt of the proceeds of a bank robbery. In United States v. Benedetto, 571 F.2d 1246 (2d Cir. 1978), and United States v. Gubelman, 571 F.2d 1252 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 436 U.S. 948, 98 S.Ct. 2853, 56 L.Ed.2d 790 (1978), this court established a two-fold analysis to be applied by district courts in deciding whether evidence of similar criminal acts should be admitted. First, the trial judge must determine under Rule 404(b) that the other crimes evidence is relevant to some issue at trial other than to prove the character of a person in order to show that he acted in conformity therewith. 8 Second, even if relevant, the judge must find that the probative value of the evidence is not  substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading the jury . . . , as required by Fed.R.Evid. 403. 9 When both tests have been carefully satisfied, the trial court's exercise of broad discretion will not lightly be disturbed. United States v. Williams,577 F.2d 188, 191 (2d Cir. 1978). 20 We find the questions regarding the admissibility of the other crimes evidence here on the issues of identity and intent to be close and substantial ones. We do not find it necessary or fruitful to analyze these difficult questions in detail because we believe the introduction of the other crimes evidence in the particular circumstances of this case, if error, to have been harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. A nun, the proverbial perfect witness, observed a man in broad daylight place a bottle, with a fingerprint on it conceded to be appellant's, next to the bank. She testified that the man who placed the bottle there was wearing a light colored wide-brim hat at the time. Bank surveillance photos of the robbery showed a man in the bank wearing a wide-brim light colored straw hat. The Branch Manager at the bank testified that one of the holdup men was wearing a white hat. Further, Sister Sweeney observed that one of the three men running along the side of the bank just after the shots rang out was wearing a straw hat. In short, the evidence linking the man whose fingerprint was on the bottle placed outside the bank to participation in the almost immediately subsequent robbery inside the bank was overwhelming. Since the fingerprint was conceded to be appellant's, it would have been unreasonable for a jury to have acquitted appellant. 21 Nevertheless, we cannot close this opinion without expressing concern over the Government's readiness to jeopardize a conviction by use of other crimes evidence when the question of admissibility, as here, is a close one. And if the prosecution insists on offering such evidence, in a case where it is risky to do so, it must be remembered that There is no presumption that evidence of other crimes is relevant to any issue in a criminal trial . . .. See United States v. Benedetto, supra, 571 F.2d at 1248. District judges must carefully scrutinize both the basis for the claimed relevance of such evidence and the balance between its probative value and prejudicial effect. The key to a fair trial in such cases is careful determination by the trial judge of both issues, particularly the latter. 22 We find that all further issues presented for review by appellant are meritless. 23 Affirmed.