Opinion ID: 2332993
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Other Crimes Evidence

Text: Generally, evidence of other crimes is not admissible, but there are several well-established exceptions to that rule. See Drew v. United States, 118 U.S.App. D.C. 11, 15-16, 331 F.2d 85, 89-90 (1964). This court has held, in particular, that such evidence is admissible when relevant to explain the immediate circumstances surrounding the offense charged . . . . It is admissible to complete the story of the crime on trial by proving its immediate context. . . . In fact, this limited class of evidence is not other crimes evidence because it is too intimately entangled with the charged criminal conduct. Toliver v. United States, 468 A.2d 958, 960 (D.C.1983) (citations omitted). Even when evidence is admissible under Toliver, however, it may be excluded if its prejudicial effect substantially outweighs its probative value. See Green v. United States, 440 A.2d 1005, 1006-1007 (D.C.1982); see also Johnson v. United States, 683 A.2d 1087, 1098-1100 (D.C.1996) (en banc) (adopting substantially outweighed standard of FED.R.EVID. 403 as governing Drew issues in the District of Columbia courts). Before trial, the government moved to admit, under Toliver, evidence of appellant's drug dealing and his sexual solicitation of Ms. Belton. After a hearing, the court granted the motion, ruling that the evidence was admissible because the other crimes occurred close in time to the murder and their relevance was not outweighed by the prejudicial effect. With regard to the sexual solicitation, the court held that the evidence was highly relevant because both parties are going to need and intend to introduce a lot of the surrounding circumstances of the murder. The court also ruled that on the scale of prejudice, it is almost a wash, because Ms. Belton and appellant were both participants; consequently, to the extent that it prejudices the defendant, it equally prejudices the government witness. With regard to the drug dealing, the court said, It certainly seems to me that the relevance of that and the need for that, to explain the circumstances very immediately surrounding the murder, are even greater. Appellant argues that the court erred because his criminal behavior was not admissible under Toliver. We disagree. Appellant's actions were close enough in time and sufficiently intertwined with the murder of Mr. Tyson to fall within the Toliver principle. Both the drug dealing and the solicitation of sex for $8.00 [6] took place only a few hours before Mr. Tyson was killed. Cf. Rindgo v. United States, 411 A.2d 373, 376-377 (D.C.1980) (rejecting claim that evidence of other robberies which occurred a week or more before the crime at issue did not provide relevant background information about the defendant's relationship with others involved in the crime). Furthermore, the activities were sufficiently connected with the events leading up to the murder so as to permit the government to present the full story of how the crime occurred. See Old Chief v. United States, 519 U.S. 172, 189, 117 S.Ct. 644, 136 L.Ed.2d 574 (1997); Bell v. United States, 677 A.2d 1044, 1047-1048 (D.C. 1996). Appellant argues, in the alternative, that even if the evidence was admissible under Toliver, it was more prejudicial than probative and should therefore have been excluded. The trial court ruled otherwise, however, and we cannot say that its ruling was erroneous. Without the evidence of appellant's drug dealing, the government would not have been able to explain the events leading up to the murder, including why appellant came to Ms. Belton's home, why Mr. Tyson gave appellant a ride, where Mr. Tyson and appellant were heading at that hour of the morning, and what Mr. Andrews thought appellant was doing when he got out of the car at Rhode Island Avenue and First Street. Although allowing the jury to hear evidence of appellant's drug activity undoubtedly resulted in some prejudice, the trial court could, and did, reasonably conclude that the prejudice did not outweigh the significant probative value of the drug evidence. See Boone v. United States, 769 A.2d 811, 817 (D.C.2001). Although the solicitation of prostitution is a closer call, we are satisfied that the trial court did not err in admitting the challenged evidence. It is worth noting, first of all, that although the act of soliciting sex in return for money is a crime, prostitution itself is not. See Ford v. United States, 533 A.2d 617, 626 (D.C. 1987) (en banc). Furthermore, the record in this case is not clear as to who did the soliciting. If Ms. Belton was the solicitor, then appellant committed no crime, and Drew and Toliver are both inapposite. Even if appellant did the soliciting, however, we cannot say that the court abused its discretion in admitting the evidence. Although the case could probably have been tried without reference to the sexual solicitation, it was clear that both sides intended to delve deeply into the circumstances surrounding the murder, which made the evidence plainly relevant. For that reason the court ruled that the evidence was admissible. We cannot find fault with the court's reasoning, and hence we hold that there was no reversible error.