Opinion ID: 2070705
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 11

Heading: Other Crimes Evidence of Motive

Text: According to the State's theory, Heath was murdered to eliminate him as a witness at Stevenson's pending trial for theft. To establish this motive, the State sought permission to introduce evidence of pending theft charges against Stevenson and Heath's role in that prosecution. The Superior Court concluded that this other crime evidence was admissible after conducting an analysis pursuant to D.R.E. 404(b) and Getz v. State, Del.Supr., 538 A.2d 726 (1988). Stevenson argues that this ruling was erroneous. In Getz, this Court established guidelines for the admission of other crime evidence under D.R.E. 404(b): (1) The evidence of other crimes must be material to an issue or ultimate fact in dispute in the case. If the State elects to present such evidence in its case-in-chief it must demonstrate the existence, or reasonable anticipation, of such a material issue. (2) The evidence of other crimes must be introduced for a purpose sanctioned by Rule 404(b) or any other purpose not inconsistent with the basic prohibition against evidence of bad character or criminal disposition. (3) The other crimes must be proved by evidence which is plain, clear and conclusive. Renzi v. State, Del.Supr., 320 A.2d 711, 712 (1974). (4) The other crimes must not be too remote in time from the charged offense. (5) The Court must balance the probative value of such evidence against its unfairly prejudicial effect, as required by D.R.E. 403. (6) Because such evidence is admitted for a limited purpose, the jury should be instructed concerning the purpose for its admission as required by D.R.E. 105. Getz v. State, 538 A.2d at 734. In this case, the guidelines of Getz were considered and properly applied by the Superior Court. First, the State's purpose for introducing evidence of the other crime, i.e., the theft from Macy's, during its case-in-chief was to establish Stevenson's motive for the murder. The motive was to eliminate Heath, thereby preventing his testimony in Stevenson's theft prosecution. Second, motive is an exception that is expressly sanctioned by Rule 404(b). The evidence presented by the State against Stevenson also comported with Getz guidelines three and four, i.e., that the other crimes were proved by evidence that is plain, clear and conclusive and that the other crimes were not too remote in time from the charged offense. Stevenson had made a full confession, in writing. Furthermore, the thefts had occurred only approximately fourteen months prior to Heath's murder and were scheduled for trial on the date of Heath's death. The fifth guideline in Getz requires the trial judge to balance the other crime evidence's probative value against the danger of unfair prejudice to the defense, pursuant to Rule 403. Deshields v. State, Del.Supr., 706 A.2d 502 (1998). Any evidence that is properly admissible during the State's case-in-chief is prejudicial to the defendant in the sense that it enhances the likelihood of a conviction. The State's evidence of Stevenson's other crimes at his murder trial established that Heath, as the chief investigating security officer at the department store where the thefts took place, was the primary witness against Stevenson. The record supports the Superior Court's conclusion that this evidence was highly probative to the State's case and not unfairly prejudicial to Stevenson. Stevenson contends that the Superior Court erred in the application of the sixth Getz guideline by not giving the jury an immediate Rule 105 limiting instruction. Although it may be preferable, there is no requirement that the trial judge deliver a limiting instruction contemporaneously with the introduction of other crime evidence, in the absence of a timely request from defense counsel. See Zimmerman v. State, Del. Supr., 565 A.2d 887, 890 (1989); Howard v. State, Del.Supr., 549 A.2d 692, 693, 694 (1988); Weber v. State, Del.Supr., 547 A.2d 948, 963 (1988). The Superior Court waited until the general instructions at the conclusion of the guilt phase of the trial to caution the jury not to infer from the other crime evidence a general criminal disposition on Stevenson's part. The jury was instructed as follows: Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, you have heard evidence that one of the defendants; namely, David Stevenson, allegedly committed thefts while an employee at Macy's, and the deceased, Kristopher Heath, participated in the investigation which led to the theft charges being placed against Stevenson. You may not use this evidence as proof that David Stevenson is a bad person, and therefore, probably committed the offenses contained in the indictment. You may use this evidence only to help you in deciding whether David Stevenson or Michael Manley was one of the persons who committed the offenses contained in the indictment. The State claims that the prior alleged theft evidence might tend to show a motive on Stevenson's part or on Manley's part to commit the offenses contained in the indictment. You may consider the prior alleged theft evidence to help you decide whether or not such evidence tends to show a motive on Stevenson's part or on Manley's part to commit the offenses, and to help you decide whether or not such evidence tends to identify them as the perpetrators of the offenses contained in the indictment for which the defendants are now on trial. You are instructed that you may not use the prior alleged theft evidence for any other purpose whatsoever. Further, the fact that the Defendant Stevenson had been indicted for the alleged offenses arising out of the Macy's internal theft investigation is not evidence of his guilt with regard to those offenses. As previously stated, an indictment is a mere accusation, and is not evidence of guilt. The record reflects that the Superior Court properly admitted other crime evidence about Stevenson's pending trial on Macy's theft charges at the time of the murder. [17]