Opinion ID: 1088164
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: the trial court erroneously allowed the admission and prejudicial use by the prosecutor of evidence of other bad acts, misconduct and crimes whose prejudicial effect outweighed any probative value.

Text: Bounds argues that the trial judge impermissibly allowed testimony of other bad acts into evidence that unfairly prejudiced him in the eyes of the jury. The State introduced extrinsic evidence of other bad acts committed by Bounds claiming that it was admissible to prove knowledge under Rule 404(b) of the Mississippi Rules of Evidence, which provides: (b) Other Crimes, Wrongs, or Acts. Evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is not admissible to prove the character of a person in order to show that he acted in conformity therewith. It may, however, be admissible for other purposes such as proof of motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident. Miss.R.Evid. 404(b). (emphasis added). Bounds claims that the incidents that were introduced by the State had no connection to either of the two crimes for which he was on trial. The following three incidents were presented to the jury: 1. That at some unspecified time in the past the defendant got drunk and got hold of a gun and shot a hole through the kitchen wall of his grandmother's house. [1] 2. That Bounds at times grabbed Guin by the shoulders and shook her head violently. 3. That Bounds slapped the victim with his open fist. The first incident came before the jury when the prosecutor asked Guin about her state of mind while, as she testified, she was being dragged to the car. Q. So what was your emotional state or your state of mind while this was going on, while you were being dragged to the car? A. I was scared to death and I was scared for my unborn child and I would have done anything so that he wouldn't have killed me at that point in time. Q. All right. What had he done to you in the past that made you think that he was capable of killing you? A. He shot at me one time. Q. When was that? An objection was made by Mr. Wright as to the time frame and relevance of this incident. The trial judge overruled the objection when the State responded that the question was in relation to what had Bounds done in the past to make Guin think that he was capable of killing her. It is true that a determination of the relevance of evidence is left to the sound discretion of the trial judge whose determination will not be reversed in the absence of clear abuse. Watts v. State, 635 So.2d 1364, 1367 (Miss. 1994), citing Lambert v. State, 462 So.2d 308, 313 (Miss. 1984). After the judge's ruling the following took place: A. We were at his grandmother's house in Newton one night and Ken got drunk and hold of a gun. And I was in the kitchen and he shot it through the wall. And there is a hole in the wall and the bullet ricocheted and went up into the ceiling. Q. Was he pointing the gun at you? A. Yes. I was on the other side of the wall. Q. What else has he done to you to make you think that he was capable of killing you? To which, Mr. Wright objected and requested to make a motion outside the presence of the jury. Mr. Wright moved for a mistrial based on the purposeful intent of the prosecutor bringing out information that was highly irrelevant, immaterial, and highly prejudicial. The State responded: Yes, sir. Judge. We're talking about a kidnapping case here and the defendant's state of mind, first of all, is very relevant. That's why I asked it here. But not only could it be admissible for that purpose, it could be admissible under 404(b). We have a long chain of conduct between Brenda Guin, the victim in this case, and Kenneth Bounds, which Mr. Wright alluded to in his opening statement. Their whole relationship is at issue here because it all led up to this breakup and then to him doing that. And the way he treated her and the things he did to her in the past is relevant. And the shooting incident, Your Honor, was, I will admit, directly in response to a question because I asked for that information and it came in without objection. And I think that... . This Court first noted that in order to pass muster under MRE 404(b), evidence must be such that it satisfies some other evidentiary purpose beyond simply showing that the defendant is the sort of fellow likely to commit the crime charged ... Watts, 635 So.2d at 1368, quoting Jenkins v. State, 507 So.2d 89, 92 (Miss. 1987). If the evidence is allowed under Rule 404(b), it must still pass through Rule 403, which is the ultimate filter through which all otherwise admissible evidence must pass. Id. The trial judge made the 403 analysis by issuing the following ruling set out below verbatim: All right. The question was what had the defendant done to make you think that he would harm you or kill you. Obviously, the state of mind of the victim is an issue in this case. The credibility of the witnesses are an issue in this case. Basically, you have one victim against one defendant. So credibility is an issue in this case. The victim is claiming burglary and kidnapping. The defendant is claiming a lover's quarrel. That's what this case is about. Under Rule 404, evidence of other crimes are not admissible to prove the character of a person in order to show that he acted in conformity therewith. These acts may be admissible for other purposes, such as proof of motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absent mistake or accident. Certainly, on the front end, first, the Court makes a finding that they would be admissible to intent. Before they could be admissible, the Court has to rule whether they are relevant under Rule 401 and whether they are more probative than prejudicial. Because of the issues involved in this case, obviously  well, the Court is finding that they are more probative than prejudicial. But these show the intent of the defendant, the state of mind of the victim, and they are very probative in the Court's opinion. And any further acts, if you are going to solicit those, including this shooting, I need a time frame because that's also relevant. (emphasis added). The trial judge required a time frame for any bad act evidence, including the shooting, because it was relevant as to when the acts occurred. However, no time frame was ever established as to when the events took place. The only mention of a time frame, which was a one-year period, is during the proffered testimony of Guin. During the proffer, the trial judge determined that none of the proffered testimony would or could come in because the State had failed to submit any of that evidence to the defense through discovery. The only mention of a time frame in front of the jury was vague statements by Guin like one night and one time. There is no establishment of an exact or even an approximate time frame. While the trial judge ruled that the bad acts could come in based on their probative value outweighing their prejudicial value, he erred in allowing them to come in without establishing a time frame. The lack of at least an approximate time frame completely ignores Mississippi Rules of Evidence 401 and 403 as to relevancy and misleading the jury. The lack of a time frame would seem to allow any bad act committed at any time by a defendant to come into and place him in a bad light in front of a jury. This is exactly what the Rules of Evidence seek to prevent. The trial judge erred by not requiring a time frame to be established in front of the jury. The prosecutor, upon objection by defense counsel, stated to the trial judge outside the presence of the jury that Guin would additionally testify that Bounds slapped her and pushed her around and pushed her into a wall, hitting her head, and things of that nature, through the course of the relationship. The trial judge allowed Guin to give such testimony as proffered outside the presence of the jury, where she testified as contemplated by the prosecutor; however, she further testified that Bounds had attempted to run her off the road and would beat her if she did not make love to him. The trial judge ruled this testimony to be inadmissible and did not allow the jury to hear it. The other two bad acts of Bounds were solicited by the prosecutor when he cross-examined Artie Bounds, the defendant's mother. The prosecutor, in direct contradiction to the earlier ruling by the trial judge, questioned Mrs. Bounds in the following manner: Q. All right. You weren't there any of the times when he grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her head violently, were you? A. No. Q. You weren't there when he grabbed her and shook her and slammed her head up against the wall, were you? A. No. Q. You weren't there when he slapped her with his open fist, were you? A. No. The trial judge in his earlier ruling had reserved the right to allow the State to rebut any claims by Bounds that he had never raised a hand to Guin. The defendant had not at the time of Mrs. Bounds' testimony testified. The problem is that the State, in essence, testified before the jury with argumentative questions as to the bad acts and got Mrs. Bounds to respond that she had never witnessed any such event. While argumentative questions are permissible on cross-examination, this Court will not allow a prosecutor to circumvent a trial judge's ruling by soliciting prohibited information from another witness on cross-examination. The State calls this Court's attention to the fact that defense counsel failed to make a timely objection. It is true that defense counsel failed to make an objection to the actions of and the information solicited by the prosecutor until it had been presented to the jury. This Court has held on more than one occasion that an attorney may not refrain from objecting to a question, thinking that the answer may be favorable to him, and, when it is unfavorable, object and ask for a mistrial. Pennington v. State, 437 So.2d 37, 40 (Miss. 1983). This Court reiterated its position regarding untimely motions in Mitchell v. State, 539 So.2d 1366, 1373 (Miss. 1989). There this Court stated that the trial judge must have an opportunity to consider and cure the objection before counsel can move for a mistrial. Id. Because Bounds' attorney failed to timely object to the questioning by the State, he should have at least moved the court for a limiting instruction to the jury. The only way he could have mitigated the damage done to his case at that point would have been by requesting a limiting instruction by the judge. The Watts decision stressed the importance of a limiting instruction by the trial judge. Watts, 635 So.2d at 1368-69. Yet, defense counsel did not request one in light of the bad act evidence being presented to the jury. It was not until the recent decision by this Court in Smith v. State, 656 So.2d 95, 100 (Miss. 1995), that a trial judge was required to give a limited instruction sua sponte. There the Court analogized the 404(b) situation to impeachment by prior conviction under MRE 609, where it was suggested that a limiting instruction be given in order to minimize the risk that the jury will infer guilt from the previous conduct. Id. Going further, the Court looked to federal cases that allowed character evidence under MRE 404(b) which recognized the necessity of a limiting instruction. See e.g. United States v. Davis, 15 F.3d 526 (6th Cir.1994). However, in the Smith case, this Court failed to reverse because of the language in MRE 105, dealing specifically with restrictive or limiting instructions where it states such instructions should be given upon request, and in the absence of a request, there is no error. It was the Court's decision that in the future whenever 404(b) evidence is offered, and there is an objection which is overruled, the objection shall be deemed an invocation of the right to a MRE 403 analysis and a limiting instruction. Smith, 656 So.2d at 100. Because the case sub judice was heard prior to the definitive ruling regarding limiting instructions in Smith, the trial judge was not bound by its holding. Thus, standing alone, it was not reversible error for the trial judge to not give, sua sponte, a limiting instruction on the MRE 404(b) evidence. The defense attorney had the burden of objecting contemporaneously and requesting the limiting instruction. However, as this case is to be retried, any retrial should be conducted according to and within the guidelines of Smith.