Opinion ID: 1841667
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Testimony Regarding The Subsequent Crime.

Text: The trial court allowed the State to introduce evidence regarding the shooting in Ohio, the defendant's flight from that crime, and his subsequent statements to the police in East Cleveland. The trial court allowed the testimony in order to link Weeks to the murder weapon. Since the gun was found under the porch of a third party's house, ten yards from the place where Weeks was apprehended, the testimony about the shooting was necessary to show how Weeks happened to be near the gun and why he had a motive for hiding it. Similarly, his admission to the East Cleveland police that the jacket found with the gun belonged to his brother linked him to the gun. Weeks argues that instead of limiting the testimony to the evidence necessary to link Weeks to the gun, the trial court allowed the State to elicit detailed testimony about the shooting, Weeks's flight from the scene of the shooting, and his statement to officers in East Cleveland. The Court of Criminal Appeals addressed this issue and resolved it correctly. It is axiomatic that, during the trial of an accused, evidence of other crimes is not admissible if the only probative value of such evidence is to show the defendant's propensity to commit crimes of the sort charged. The rule does not, however, exclude evidence of all other crimes, only those offered to show the accused's bad character. We disagree with the defendant's suggestion that the testimony should have been limited to the evidence necessary to link Weeks to the murder weapon. Evidence of the entire course of events from the time he was stopped until he was apprehended after the shooting all tends to link Weeks to the crime in Alabama. Testimony that Weeks was stopped while driving the victim's automobile, that he presented the victim's driver's license as his own, and that he reacted violently to being stopped for a minor traffic violation all circumstantially link him to the crime in Alabama and were properly admitted.