Opinion ID: 2544410
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Spoto analysis: The first three prongs

Text: The prosecution presented multiple theories of logical relevance. First, pursuant to Dr. Meloy's testimony, Defendant's drawings and writings pairing sex and violence were relevant to Defendant's motive for the crime. Second, those drawings and writings that fall into the five categories of rehearsal fantasy as explained by Dr. Meloy were relevant to Defendant's deliberation of the crime. Third, Defendant's drawings and writings evincing a hatred of women were also relevant to Defendant's motive for the crime. Fourth, those drawings and writings reflecting specific aspects of Ms. Hettrick's murder were relevant to Defendant's preparation, planning, deliberation, or, if created after Ms. Hettrick was killed, guilty knowledge, of the crime. Fifth, drawings and writings concerning survival knives were relevant to Defendant's knowledge of such weapons. Finally, other drawings and writings, such as maps of the crime scene and a calendar with the date of the murder circled, were relevant to Defendant's opportunity to commit the crime, plan to commit the crime, preparation for the crime, or if created after the crime was committed, to Defendant's subsequent knowledge of the crime. Each of these theories of logical relevance is a precise evidential hypothesis by which a material fact  be it motivation, deliberation, preparation, planning, opportunity, or guilty knowledge  can be permissibly inferred from the drawings and writings independent of the prohibited character inference. Accordingly, the vast majority of the drawings and writings are admissible under the Spoto test. We now examine each of these theories of logical relevance in greater detail.
Although novel, the prosecution's first two theories of logical relevance  that those drawings and writings pairing sex and violence [1] are relevant to show Defendant's motive, and that those drawings and writings falling into the five categories of rehearsal fantasy [2] are relevant to show deliberation  meet the first two prongs of the Spoto test. Material facts to which the other acts evidence must relate under the first two prongs of the Spoto test can be either ultimate facts  such as whether Defendant committed the crime, whether he possessed the requisite intent, [3] and whether he deliberated upon the murder  or intermediate or evidential facts, themselves probative of ultimate facts. See Rath, 44 P.3d at 1039-40; see also Vialpando v. People, 727 P.2d 1090, 1095 (Colo.1986) ([A] fact of consequence to the determination of the action also includes facts bearing circumstantially upon the weight or probative value to be given other evidence in the case. (internal quotations omitted)). Plan, scheme, design, modus operandi, and motive, while not usually elements or ultimate facts themselves, are among, or closely related to, those examples of permissible reasons enumerated in the rule and are well-accepted methods of proving the ultimate facts necessary to establish the commission of a crime, without reliance upon an impermissible inference from bad character. Rath, 44 P.3d at 1040. Here, Dr. Meloy testified that perpetrators of sexual homicide are often sexually aroused by their violent fantasies, and these fantasies can therefore become the primary drive mechanism, or motive, for a sexual homicide. He further testified that fantasy productions may serve as a rehearsal for a sexual homicide. The trial court found that this testimony was reasonably reliable, and we have held that this conclusion was not manifestly erroneous. Accordingly, pursuant to Dr. Meloy's testimony, those drawings and writings pairing sex and violence, as well as those falling into the five categories of rehearsal fantasy, are logically relevant to whether Defendant had motive to commit the crime, and whether Defendant prepared to commit the crime. Defendant's motive and preparation are themselves relevant to the ultimate issues of whether he committed the actus reus of the crime, and whether he did so with the requisite intent and deliberation. Because they are evidence of motive and deliberation, those drawings and writings pairing sex with violence, as well as those falling into the five categories of rehearsal fantasy identified by Dr. Meloy, are logically relevant to material facts in the case and therefore satisfy the first two prongs of the Spoto test. Willner, 879 P.2d at 26-27 (evidence of prior bad acts admissible under Spoto to prove intent and deliberation). Because the logical relevance of this chain of inference does not rely on Defendant's propensity to act a certain way, the third prong of Spoto is likewise satisfied. [4] Murderers often have bizarre motivations for their conduct  motivations that would not readily occur to most jurors. Edward J. Imwinkelried, People v. Ewoldt: The California Supreme Court's About-Face on the Plan Theory for Admitting Evidence of an Accused's Uncharged Misconduct, 28 Loy. L.A. L.Rev. 473, 483 (1995) (internal footnotes omitted). Accordingly, many acts appearing at first blush to be unrelated character evidence are in actuality elements of a common scheme hatched by a warped criminal mind. Id. (noting that [t]he accused written or oral statements may be evidence that the accused harbored such a plan (internal quotations omitted)). As such, the seemingly unrelated acts are being offered for a relevant noncharacter purpose and thus should be admissible under CRE 404(b). Id. This case is demonstrative of this point. Through Dr. Meloy's testimony, the prosecution established that these drawings and writings actually established Defendant's motive for the crime and may also have served as preparation for the crime. Motive and preparation are the relevant noncharacter purposes for which the drawings and writings were offered. The logical relevance of the drawings and writings to show motive and preparation does not depend on the inference that the defendant committed the crime charged because of the likelihood that he acted in conformity with his bad character. Admission of the writings and drawings to prove motive and preparation therefore satisfies the third prong of the Spoto test.
Defendant's drawings and writings evincing a hatred of women [5] also satisfy the first three prongs of the Spoto test. They are evidence of motive. Although we have never before considered whether evidence of misogyny can be admitted under CRE 404(b), we find support for our conclusion in the jurisprudence of other states. In People v. Hoffman, 225 Mich.App. 103, 570 N.W.2d 146 (1997), the Michigan Court of Appeals considered whether other-acts evidence tending to establish the defendant's hatred of women could be admitted pursuant to Michigan Rule of Evidence 404(b). [6] The court defined motive as the cause or reason that moves the will and induces action. Hoffman, 570 N.W.2d at 148 (quoting Black's Law Dictionary (rev. 5th ed.)). The court admitted that [t]he distinction between admissible evidence of motive and inadmissible evidence of character or propensity is often subtle. Id. However, there is a distinction, and the court offered a hypothetical to demonstrate it. A white assailant attacks a black man. The assailant makes no demands and takes no money or property; the assailant and the victim do not know each other. The crime is seemingly an inexplicable act of random violence. Later, when the assailant is arrested and charged with the crime, the prosecutor discovers that the defendant has attacked several other people in the past. The court reasoned: Absent a proper purpose (such as to prove a common plan, scheme, or other exception), this other-acts evidence would be inadmissible because its only relevance is to establish the defendant's violent character or propensity towards violence. However, if ... all the defendant's prior victims were African-American and [the] defendant had previously expressed his hatred toward blacks, then the evidence of the defendant's prior assaults would be admissible to prove the defendant's motive for his conduct. By establishing that the defendant harbors a strong animus against people of the victim's race, the other-acts evidence goes beyond establishing a propensity toward violence and tends to show why the defendant perpetrated a seemingly random and inexplicable attack. Id. at 149. Based on this line of reasoning, the court concluded that evidence that defendant hates women and previously had acted on such hostility establishes more than character or propensity. Here, the other-acts evidence was relevant and material to defendant's motive for his unprovoked, cruel, and sexually demeaning attack on his victim. Id. But see State v. Johnson, 71 Ohio St.3d 332, 643 N.E.2d 1098, 1105 (1994) (holding that hatred of women indicates evidence of a character trait that must be excluded). Reasoning that [a]bsent the other-acts evidence establishing motive, the jurors may have found it difficult to believe the victim's testimony that defendant committed the depraved and otherwise inexplicable actions, the Michigan Court of Appeals also held that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in ruling that the danger of unfair prejudice did not substantially outweigh the probative value of the other-acts evidence. Id. at 149-50. Hoffman drew its hypothetical, and its reasoning from State v. Crumb, 277 N.J.Super. 311, 649 A.2d 879 (1994). There, the court reversed the trial court and held that evidence of a defendant's bigotry was admissible to establish the defendant's motive for randomly attacking an elderly black man. Crumb, 649 A.2d at 884. This evidence consisted of drawings and writings produced by the defendant that sanctioned white supremacy and contained various racial epithets. Id. at 881. The court reasoned that a wider range of evidence should be admissible to establish motive or intent than is permitted in support of other issues because [o]therwise there would often be no means to reach and disclose the secret design or purpose of the act charged in which the very gist of the offense may consist. Id. at 882. Accordingly, the court held that [a]ll evidentiary circumstances, which are relevant to or tend to shed light on the motive or intent of the defendant or which tend fairly to explain his actions are admissible in evidence against him although they may have occurred previous to the commission of the offense. Id. (internal quotations omitted). Reasoning that the written material expressing defendant's hostility toward and hatred of black people is compelling powerful evidence of a motive which helps explain an otherwise inexplicable act of random violence, the court held that the evidence was admissible. Id.; cf. United States v. Mills, 704 F.2d 1553 (11th Cir.1983) (holding that evidence of other acts is admissible if it is linked together in time and circumstances with the crime charged, or if it forms an integral and natural part of the account of the circumstances of the crime, or is necessary in order to complete the story of the crime on trial, and therefore affirming the trial court's admission of evidence establishing defendant's membership in the Aryan Brotherhood because it formed the context, motive, and set-up for the crime and was necessary to make the crime comprehensible to a jury (internal citations and quotations omitted)); cf. also People v. Nicolaus, 54 Cal.3d 551, 286 Cal.Rptr. 628, 817 P.2d 893, 906-07 (1991) (holding that writings of the defendant revealing his extreme dislike of religion, and in particular Christianity, were admissible to prove motive); People v. Olguin, 31 Cal.App.4th 1355, 37 Cal.Rptr.2d 596, 601 (1994) (holding that evidence of gang activity and affiliation is admissible where it is relevant to issues of motive and intent). We are persuaded by the reasoning of Hoffman and Crumb. Dr. Meloy testified that one of the primary reasons perpetrators of sexual homicide fantasize is to express deeply felt hostility towards women. This hostility eventually crescendos into a sexual homicide where the female victim is degraded, treated as a sex object, and sexually mutilated. Thus, Defendant's hatred of women, as exemplified in many of his drawings and writings, is not just a motive for the crime, but for why the crime was committed in this specific manner. Cf. People v. Mendoza, 876 P.2d 98, 103 (Colo.App.1994) (holding that evidence of gang affiliation was admissible as motive where it was offered not to prove that defendant was more likely to kill because he was a gang member, but because his membership in a particular gang established a motive for why he was more likely to murder a particular victim after deliberation). As such, Defendant's drawings and writings reflecting his hatred of women satisfy the first three prongs of the Spoto test.
Some of Defendant's drawings and writings reflect specific aspects of the murder. For example, pools of blood, bloody drag trails, distinctive scratch marks on victims' faces, and victims with their arms positioned above their heads can be found throughout Defendant's productions. In one instance, there is a picture of an assailant dragging a victim by the armpits; blood drips from her back, and her heels leave a bloody drag trail behind. Forensic investigators suspect that this is precisely how Peggy Hettrick was moved from the street into the field where she was found. There is no need for an extended discussion of why these productions were admissible. We agree with the court of appeals that these drawings and writings are sufficiently similar to the actual crime to be admissible under CRE 404(b) independent of Dr. Meloy's testimony  although his testimony that fantasy can serve as a rehearsal for the crime certainly bolsters this conclusion. If created before the crime was committed, the drawings and writings reflecting aspects of the crime constitute evidence of Defendant's preparation for and planning of the crime, and thus ultimately of his deliberation and intent. See Longoria v. Nevada, 99 Nev. 754, 670 P.2d 939, 940 (1983) (holding that both defendant's planning activity and the manner of killing as it bears upon a pre-existing reflection to take the victim's life in a particular way are relevant to premeditation and deliberation). If created after the commission of the crime, these drawings and writings are evidence of Defendant's subsequent knowledge of the crime and thus of his identity as the perpetrator. [7] See Kennard v. People, 171 Colo. 194, 465 P.2d 509, 511 (1970) (As concerns the issue of intent and guilty knowledge and the relationship thereto of evidence of other offenses, what one does after his alleged commission of a criminal act may be as revealing as that which he has done before.); see also People v. Lamirato, 180 Colo. 250, 504 P.2d 661, 665 (1972) (upholding the admission of evidence that defendant committed theft three days after the offense for which he was charged for the purpose of showing plan, scheme, design, intent or guilty knowledge.); People v. Snyder, 874 P.2d 1076, 1077-1081 (Colo.1994) (upholding the admission of subsequent sexual assault for the purpose of proving plan, motive, and intent to commit prior sexual assault). Both of these evidentiary hypotheses are independent of the prohibited propensity inference. Likewise, many of Defendant's drawings are detailed depictions of survival knives similar to the knife which investigators and the coroner believe was used to kill Peggy Hettrick. These drawings and writings are admissible to prove Defendant's knowledge of such weapons. Other drawings and writings, such as maps of the crime scene and a calendar with the date of the murder circled, are patently relevant to Defendant's opportunity to commit the crime, plan to commit the crime, preparation of the crime or, if created after the crime was committed, of his subsequent knowledge of the crime. [8] The relevance of these productions is also independent of the prohibited propensity inference.