Opinion ID: 2039996
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Evidence of Defendant's Jealousy

Text: In another motion in limine, the defendant sought to exclude evidence of certain statements made by Wyss during a police interrogation. In those statements Wyss described himself as jealous when his wife socialized with other men and indicated that Dorthy Wyss liked to talk to people in bars and would often flaunt this by bringing guys home. The defendant argues that the trial court committed prejudicial error in admitting this testimony on the ground that it was evidence as to a trait of his character, inadmissible under sec. 904.04 (1), Stats., which provides: 904.04 Character evidence not admissible to prove conduct; exceptions; other crimes. (1) CHARACTER EVIDENCE GENERALLY. Evidence of a person's character or a trait of his character is not admissible for the purpose of proving that he acted in conformity therewith on a particular occasion. . . . We conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting this evidence because the statements were an admission as to intent and motive, admissible under sec. 904.04 (2). The statements were not admitted for the purpose of showing that the defendant acted in conformity with a particular character trait, but rather for the purpose of showing that he acted in conformity with a particular emotional state, jealousy, and that this provided a motive and intent for the crime. Therefore the evidence is not barred by sec. 904.04 (1). The defendant next contends that the trial court should have exercised its discretion and considered whether the probative value of the evidence outweighed its prejudicial effect. Section 904.03, Stats., provides: 904.03 Exclusion of relevant evidence on grounds of prejudice, confusion, or waste of time. Although relevant, evidence may be excluded if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading the jury, or by considerations of undue delay, waste of time, or needless presentation of cumulative evidence. However, the defendant failed to object to the admission of this evidence on the ground that its prejudicial effect outweighed its probative value. Consequently, the trial court was not required to engage in this balancing process before it admitted the evidence. McClelland v. State, 84 Wis. 2d 145, 157-58, 267 N.W.2d 843 (1978). Therefore, sec. 904.03, Stats., provides no basis for a claim of error.