Opinion ID: 1652032
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: the trial court erred in allowing into evidence testimony regarding defendant's prior, unrelated criminal conduct.

Text: ¶ 13. Carter complains that the evidence regarding her prior criminal conduct, relating to the shoot-out at her mother's house, not resulting in a conviction was highly prejudicial and inadmissible under the rules of evidence and current Mississippi case law. She also maintains that her testimony that she had never owned or fired a .38 caliber weapon did not open the door to this evidence. On appeal, the State admits that Carter did not open the door to the sheriff's rebuttal testimony, and that the trial court would probably have sustained a 404(b) [1] objection had she raised it. Blanks v. State, 547 So.2d 29, 37 (Miss.1989) (defendant's testimony that he'd never fired the gun, had never received instruction from his mother on shooting the gun, and knew that he wasn't supposed to handle it did not open the door to evidence of a prior instance in which the defendant waived the pistol at someone while threatening to shoot him). However, the State asserts that Carter is procedurally barred from raising this issue on appeal, because at trial she objected to the admission of Sheriff Farrior's testimony on grounds of relevancy and lack of proper foundation regarding the bullet holes. [O]bjection on one ground at trial waives all other grounds for objection on appeal. Lester v. State, 692 So.2d 755, 772 (Miss.1997). However, Rule 404(b) is an issue of relevancy, and Carter objected on grounds of relevancy. Where the specific grounds for objection are apparent from the context, a general objection is sufficient to preserve the error for appeal. Barnette v. State, 478 So.2d 800, 803 (Miss. 1985). The Barnette Court also noted the potential for prejudice if the defense attorney were required to state the specific grounds for objection to admission of a prior criminal act. Id. We find that this issue is not procedurally barred. ¶ 14. In the alternative, the State contends that any error was harmless, because the testimony did not affect the outcome of the case. We agree. Where the prejudice from an erroneous admission of evidence dims in comparison to other overwhelming evidence, this Court has refused to reverse. Holland v. State, 587 So.2d 848, 864 (Miss. 1991). Connecting Carter to the caliber of pistol used to kill Hundley was not central to the prosecution's case. The key evidence here was the eyewitness accounts identifying Carter as the only possible shooter. We find that erroneous admission of Sheriff Farrior's rebuttal testimony did not prejudice Carter to such an extent as to require reversal. Peterson v. State, 671 So.2d 647, 655-56 (Miss.1996).