Opinion ID: 1907814
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: The Evidence was Admissible Pursuant to the Identity Exception

Text: We are also satisfied that the trial court could properly have found the evidence to fall within the identity exception. The evidence amounted to a crucial link between Johnson and the killing of Carrington. That the same gun was used in both events closely linked the two. The killing of the two boys so short a time after the Carrington murder was additionally probative of the identity of Carrington's killers because it was more likely that the burglars of the apartment would kill the boys in order to silence them if the boys knew the burglars. Thus, the killing of the boys greatly narrowed the class of persons potentially responsible for Carrington's murder. It is hardly surprising that the government pressed for admission of the evidence, as identity was not merely a genuine issue in the case, but the only real issue.