Opinion ID: 1312915
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Reverse Spriegl Evidence

Text: Absent a clear abuse of discretion, evidentiary rulings generally rest within the trial court's discretion. See State v. Glaze, 452 N.W.2d 655, 660 (Minn.1990). A defendant who claims the trial court erred in admitting evidence bears the burden of showing the error and any resulting prejudice. See State v. Steinbuch, 514 N.W.2d 793, 799 (Minn.1994). Pursuant to Minn. R. Evid. 404(b), a defendant may seek to introduce evidence of other crimes or misconduct of a third person to prove motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident. Minn. R. Evid. 404(b). In State v. Deans, we stated: If    the conduct of a third party    is an issue and if the evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts by the third party is not offered to prove the third party's character as a basis for an inference as to his conduct but instead is offered to prove the conduct of the third party without any need to infer his character, then the evidence is admissible. 356 N.W.2d 674, 676 (Minn.1984). Such evidence, however, often referred to in Minnesota as Spreigl evidence after our decision in State v. Spreigl, 272 Minn. 488, 139 N.W.2d 167 (1965), shall not be admitted in a criminal prosecution unless: (1) the evidence is clear and convincing that the person participated in the other offense; (2) the Spreigl evidence is relevant and material to the case; and (3) the probative value of the Spreigl evidence is not outweighed by its potential for unfair prejudice. See State v. Bolte, 530 N.W.2d 191, 197 (Minn.1995) (detailing procedural requirements and safeguards governing other-crime evidence); see also State v. Landin, 472 N.W.2d 854, 859 (Minn.1991). Greenleaf sought to introduce evidence of John Steven Martin's conviction for sexually assaulting a cellmate a year after the Antonich murder. Greenleaf argued that it was evidence tending to prove Martin's propensity to engage in violent, coercive behavior toward others. However, as the trial court correctly noted, this evidence fails to meet the second element of the Spreigl analysis because it is not relevant and material to the charged crime. To be relevant and material, the other crime must be sufficiently similar to the charged crime in terms of time, place or modus operandi. See State v. Wermerskirchen, 497 N.W.2d 235, 240 (Minn. 1993). While absolute similarity between the Spreigl incident and the charged offense is not required, see Landin, 472 N.W.2d at 860, the greater the similarity between the Spreigl incident and the crime charged, the greater the likelihood that the Spreigl incident is relevant. See State v. Rainer, 411 N.W.2d 490, 497 (Minn.1987). In this case, the Spreigl incident is distinctly dissimilar to the murder of Antonich. First, the sexual assault by John Steven Martin occurred almost a year after Antonich's murder. See State v. Cogshell, 538 N.W.2d 120, 124 (Minn.1995) (holding that an offense committed 15 months earlier was not closely related to the crime charged in temporal terms). Second, the sexual assault occurred while John Steven Martin was confined in a prison cell and involved a fellow inmate, while Antonich's murder occurred on a deserted road in front of four witnesses. And third, there was no similarity between the events in terms of modus operandi. In Antonich's murder, according to Greenleaf, John Steven Martin used coercion to force the other four defendants to help him beat Antonich, kidnap him, commandeer his vehicle, and then kill him. In the sexual assault John Steven Martin did not use coercion to force another to commit a crime; he alone committed the sexual assault on a fellow inmate. See Cogshell, 538 N.W.2d at 123-24 (stating that a Spreigl incident must be sufficiently or substantially similar to the crime charged). The only similarity between the two crimes is that John Steven Martin has a propensity to commit crimes, something that cannot be proven using Spreigl evidence. See Deans, 356 N.W.2d at 676. Accordingly, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in excluding the evidence.