Opinion ID: 1599736
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Admissibility of Subsequent Police Conduct.

Text: At the crash scene, fifteen police vehicles were assembled. Douglas characterizes this and the chase of Douglas's car by seven police cars as police panic that culminated in the use of excessive force. The argument is that the police conduct generated a fear in Douglas that caused him to act in self defense. At trial, he sought to introduce evidence to support this theory that purported to show the aggressive character of the police. We permit evidence under Iowa Rule of Evidence 404(a)(2)(A) of a pertinent trait of character of the victim of a crime offered by an accused. Citing this rule, Douglas offered evidence of police conduct that occurred after the arrest of Douglas. The evidence showed that several police officers saw a black man sitting in his car bearing Ohio license plates in a church parking lot. They approached him with guns drawn, including shotguns, and forced him out of the car and down on the pavement. It turned out that he was a retired military man who was lost and was waiting for someone to come and get him. The trial court refused to allow presentation of this evidence. Our review of a ruling on the admissibility of evidence is for abuse of discretion. State v. Myers, 382 N.W.2d 91, 93 (Iowa 1986). In State v. Dunson, 433 N.W.2d 676, 679-81 (Iowa 1988), we adopted the rule allowing evidence of subsequent conduct as well as prior conduct to show character traits. At the same time, we cautioned that the district court must still exercise its discretion as to its admissibility under Iowa Rule of Evidence 403. In the instant case, the court properly excluded the proffered testimony as being not relevant. Only one police officer participated in both events so that the conduct exhibited at the church parking lot would not reflect the conduct of different officers involved in the car chase and arrest of Douglas. Further, under rule 403, the prejudicial effect outweighed any probative value of this evidence.