Opinion ID: 1865300
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: More Prior Bad Acts

Text: After defendant's arrest, his rented vehicle was searched by officers who discovered an illegally concealed .357 magnum pistol, a small bag of marijuana, and a marijuana cigarette. Once again, despite the fact that these three items had no real bearing on any one of the three counts as charged in the indictment, they were received in evidence over defendant's objection. None of this evidence bore any relevancy to the methods allegedly employed by the defendant to distribute marijuana. Likewise, there was no testimony that the defendant ever used a dangerous weapon to promote his alleged distribution of marijuana, and this evidence made him appear to the jury as a violent, dangerous individual. The State argues that the defendant did not preserve for appeal his objections concerning the gun and the marijuana because the objection was on relevancy, not specifically other bad acts. The defendant in a criminal case would be harmed if defense counsel were required to object prior bad acts or something similar, in front of the jury, even if the trial court sustained the objection. Relevancy is the proper objection under SDCL 19-12-5. The State did not even argue that the pistol and small bag of marijuana were probative of the offense charged. This evidence had no probative value, was clearly prejudicial, and its introduction merits reversal.