Opinion ID: 1874198
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Theft of Money from Cupboard.

Text: Arrington also testified that Appellant admitted taking $150.00 from a cup in Roberts's kitchen cupboard, intending to use that money to pay Roberts for the telephone bill. According to Arrington, Appellant told her that the $150.00 was money he had previously paid to Roberts for rent. Our reasoning with regard to the pretrial notice of Appellant's theft of money from the purses in Roberts's car applies equally here. Thus, for the reasons stated in Part IV(A)(1), supra, the admission of this evidence in spite of the Commonwealth's failure to give specific pretrial notice of it was not palpable error. Like the evidence discussed above, this testimony was also not clearly inadmissible to prove a proper purpose under KRE 404(b). It constituted evidence of an escalation in the ongoing antagonism between Appellant and Roberts over reimbursement of the long-distance telephone charges. The uncharged theft thus related to an ongoing dispute that arguably furnished the motive for the homicide. Thus, we cannot say that the trial court committed obvious error in admitting this evidence or, based on our review of the record as a whole, Part IV(A)(1), supra, that the admission of this testimony was manifestly unjust. Thus, its admission was not palpable error.