Opinion ID: 2384358
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Is evidence of the uncharged crime sufficiently probative of its commission by the accused to warrant its introduction into evidence?

Text: The only evidence of the uncharged crime allegedly committed by appellant against T.C. was the testimony of T.C. and the hearsay statements of T.C. as repeated to other witnesses. There exists no independent corroborating evidence in the record that the acts T.C. alleges appellant committed did, in fact, occur. This scarcity of evidence illustrates the inherent difficulty with this particular inquiry. Because the issue of other crimes evidence precisely involves acts that are uncharged, this trial is not the proper forum for substantial evidence about this allegation to come in, or be defended against. The question is whether the bare testimony of T.C., who had never come forward with allegations of sexual abuse against appellant until he learned of his little brother's abuse, is sufficiently probative of the uncharged act to warrant its introduction. To be sure, this testimony, alone, does not yield as strong a case on the probativeness issue as would, for example, a defendant's fingerprints on a gun alleged to have been used in an uncharged crime. What is clear, though, is that the inquiry into probativeness need not be a guessing game, for either lower or appellate courts. This is an issue to be determined by a trial court before evidence of uncharged crimes is admitted. From the record in this case, this inquiry was not even considered. C. Prejudice