Opinion ID: 2291534
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Intent as a genuine and important issue rather than as merely a formal one.

Text: Where intent, and especially specific intent, is the central contested issue in the case, the basis for admitting evidence of other crimes bearing on that issue is at its zenith. Where intent is merely a formal issue derived from the elements of the offense, and is not being controverted, the argument for receiving such evidence falters. A comparison of the situations of the two original defendants in the present case is revealing. Eight tin foil packets were found on Copeland's person, and he was therefore in no realistic position to deny that he was in possession of the contraband. The issue which he could contest (at least more plausibly than Thompson could in light of the testimony regarding the twenty-seven tin foils) was whether the drugs were for personal use or for distribution. [13] Evidence (if the government had any) that Copeland had distributed drugs on other occasions, though prejudicial, would have been relevant to the central issue in his case, and could have logically rebutted his defense. Thompson, on the other hand, denied possession altogether, and no drugs were found on his person. Under his theory of the case, he could not meaningfully contest intent to distribute. Claiming not even to know that the drugs were in the vehicle, he was in no position to contend that he possessed them for his own personal use. His only plausible position was, in effect, that he did not know to what use the real owner or possessor intended to put them. Although he could have strengthened his hand by stipulating that, so far as he knew, the drugs were intended for distribution by the person to whom they belonged, see United States v. Coades, supra , he never retreated from his flat denial of possession, and never controverted intent to distribute. Other crimes evidence should not be admitted where the minute peg of relevancy will be entirely obscured by the dirty linen hung upon it. United States v. Kahaner, 317 F.2d 459, 471-472 (2d Cir.1963), cert. denied, 375 U.S. 836, 84 S.Ct. 73, 11 L.Ed.2d 65 (1963). As a British court put it in a case in which another Thompson was the accused some seventy years ago, the mere theory that a plea of not guilty puts everything material in issue is not enough ... The prosecution cannot credit the accused with fancy defenses in order to rebut them at the outset with some damning piece of evidence. Thompson v. The King, [1918] A.C. 221, 222. When a defendant denies participation in the conduct which is alleged to constitute the crime, intent is ordinarily not a material issue for purposes of admitting other crimes evidence. United States v. Powell, 587 F.2d 443, 448 (9th Cir.1978). The materiality of intent as an issue depends, not on the statutory definition of the offense, but on the circumstances of the case and on the nature of the defense. United States v. Silva, 580 F.2d 144, 148 (5th Cir.1978) (narcotics distribution case in which defense was mistaken identity; evidence of later sale held inadmissible). Evidence of other misconduct is not admissible to prove intent unless intent is genuinely in issue, not merely in the sense that it is an element of the offense, but in the sense that it is genuinely controverted. People v. Golochowicz, 413 Mich. 298, 316, 319 N.W.2d 518, 524 (1982). But see Overton v. State, 78 Nev. 198, 205, 370 P.2d 677, 681 (1962) (plea of not guilty in PWID case puts in issue every material allegation of the charge; prior heroin sale receivable to show guilty knowledge); United States v. Holman, 680 F.2d 1340, 1349 (11th Cir. 1982) (plea of not guilty in conspiracy case puts intent in issue; evidence of extrinsic offenses probative as to intent unless defendant affirmatively takes issue of intent out of case; counsel's indication that defense would not actively contest the issue insufficient). In those cases in which it has explicitly addressed the question, this court has held that intent must be a material or genuine issue, not merely a formal issue in the sense of entitlement to an instruction. [14] Graves, supra, 515 A.2d at 1142; Willcher, supra, 408 A.2d at 75-76; Ali v. United States, 520 A.2d 306, 310 (D.C.1987). As Judge Gallagher emphasized for the court in Willcher, the question whether an issue has been sufficiently raised depends not only on the elements of the offense charged, but also on the defense presented. 408 A.2d at 75. If proof of other crimes were admissible simply because intent must be shown, whether the defendant contests it or not, then such inherently prejudicial evidence would become routinely admissible, without regard to whether the government really needed it. Graves, supra, 515 A.2d at 1140. We adhere to these decisions, and hold that where intent is not controverted in any meaningful sense, evidence of other crimes to prove intent is so prejudicial per se that it is inadmissible as a matter of law.