Opinion ID: 1355360
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Inextricably intertwined.

Text: Evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is not admissible to prove the character of a person in order to show action in conformity therewith. KRE 404(b). Appellant asserts that evidence of the videotaping of S.K., the indecent exposure, and the pornography incident, was admitted only to show his lustful inclination, i.e., that he was the type of person who would likely molest C.I. See Pendleton v. Commonwealth, 685 S.W.2d 549, 552 (Ky.1985) ([N]o evidence is admissible to show `lustful inclination.'). The Commonwealth does not assert that the acts were so similar to the charged offenses as to establish, e.g., motive or identity through evidence of modus operandi. KRE 404(b)(1); Billings v. Commonwealth, 843 S.W.2d 890, 893 (Ky.1992). Rather, the trial court admitted the videotaping evidence under KRE 404(b)(2) because the evidence explained why Steger and Albritton came to Appellant's residence to interview his children, reasoning that it was, therefore, so inextricably intertwined with the charged offense that its exclusion would seriously adversely affect the Commonwealth's ability to present its case. However, as we noted in Funk v. Commonwealth, 842 S.W.2d 476 (Ky.1992): [T]he key to understanding this exception is the word inextricably. The exception relates only to evidence that must come in because it is so interwoven with evidence of the crime charged that its introduction is unavoidable.  Id. at 480 (emphasis added) (quoting Lawson, The Kentucky Evidence Law Handbook, § 2.20, at 37 (2d ed.1984)). See also Fleming v. Commonwealth, 284 Ky. 209, 144 S.W.2d 220, 221 (1940) (evidence is inextricably intertwined where two or more crimes are so linked together in point of time or circumstances that one cannot be fully shown without proving the other). It would have been a simple matter for Steger and Albritton to truthfully testify that they came to Appellant's residence to investigate an allegation of child abuse without mentioning the uncharged videotaping incident. Patently this is not a case where it would be necessary to suppress facts and circumstances relevant to the commission of the offense charged [sodomy and sexual abuse of C.I.] in order to exclude evidence of the prior offense [videotaping of S.K.]. Funk, 842 S.W.2d at 480. See also Scamahorne v. Commonwealth, 357 S.W.2d 30 (Ky.1962) (conviction for carrying a concealed deadly weapon discovered during service of arrest warrant reversed because of admission of evidence that the warrant was for a charge of bank burglary). As Professor Lawson warns, KRE 404(b)(2) poses a special threat to the law's overriding objective of protecting defendants against the prejudice that is inherent in evidence of other crimes. Lawson, supra, § 2.25[4][c], at 139. In practice, ... this expanded idea of contextual relevance often paves the way to prove acts that are anything but inseparable [from] the charged crime, and this label can easily become a catchall for admitting other acts that are far more prejudicial to the defendant than useful in determining guilt of the charged offense. Id. (quoting 1 Mueller & Kirkpatrick, Federal Evidence § 111) (2d ed.1994). The specter that misuse of KRE 404(b)(2) will lead to the introduction of prejudicial collateral facts is embodied by what happened in this case. At trial, the Commonwealth not only elicited from Steger and Albritton that they had gone to Appellant's residence to investigate an allegation that Appellant had videotaped S.K. undressing, but also (1) elicited from Steger, Albritton, and the two social workers who were watching through the two-way mirror that Appellant confessed to videotaping S.K. and to having destroyed the videotape by burning it on a burn pile in his back yard (Steger even introduced photographs of the burn pile); and (2) elicited from S.K. that she had told Steger and Albritton, as well as Barbara Driskill, clinical director of Child Watch Advocacy Center, that Appellant had videotaped her undressing. During the in limine hearing, both the prosecutor and the defense counsel admitted knowing that, if asked, S.K. probably would recant her accusation and claim that the incident had not occurred. After S.K. did, in fact, recant during direct examination by the prosecutor, the Commonwealth impeached her recantation by recalling Steger and Albritton to provide details of what S.K. had told them about the incident, and by calling Barbara Driskill as a witness to testify that S.K. had twice told her about the incident, including that Appellant paid her ten dollars to remove her clothing. Even if Steger's and Albritton's initial testimony that they went to the Metcalf residence to investigate the videotaping incident had been admissible under KRE 404(b)(2) (it was not), neither Appellant's confession to committing the act [1] nor S.K.'s testimony about it was inextricably intertwined with the charged offense. The exclusion of Appellant's confession and S.K.'s testimony about the videotaping incident would not have required suppression of any facts and circumstances relevant to the charged sodomy and sexual abuse of C.I. Funk, 842 S.W.2d at 480. And, of course, absent S.K.'s testimony and subsequent recantation, there would have been no basis at all for the admission of S.K.'s prior inconsistent statements under KRE 801A(a)(1). In fact, it is doubtful that S.K.'s recantation opened the door for the rebuttal evidence since she admitted having told Steger and Albritton the story about the videotaping but claimed at trial that she had lied to them. Further, the videotaping incident was a collateral fact, and although there is no provision in the Kentucky Rules of Evidence prohibiting impeachment on collateral facts, we have consistently recognized that prohibition as a valid principle of evidence. Purcell v. Commonwealth, 149 S.W.3d 382, 397-98 (Ky.2004); Neal v. Commonwealth, 95 S.W.3d 843, 849 (Ky.2003); Slaven v. Commonwealth, 962 S.W.2d 845, 858 (Ky.1997); Eldred v. Commonwealth, 906 S.W.2d 694, 705 (Ky.1994), abrogated on other grounds by Commonwealth v. Barroso, 122 S.W.3d 554, 563-64 (Ky.2003). Professor Lawson suggests that the KRE 403 balancing test, i.e., weighing the probative value of the impeachment against the prejudicial effect of the evidence and its possible confusion of issues, resolves the issue more properly than a distinction between collateral and non-collateral facts. Lawson, supra, § 4.05[3], at 276. It would be a rare occurrence, we think, when the prejudicial effect of evidence of other bad acts would not substantially outweigh the impeachment value of such evidence, and this case is not that rare occurrence. The videotaping evidence was, therefore, essentially proof of Appellant's bad moral character by evidence of a specific instance of conduct. The prosecutor may introduce evidence of the accused's bad character only to rebut evidence of the accused's good character  which had not been introduced at the time of S.K.'s testimony. KRE 404(a)(1). And character evidence is admissible only in the form of reputation or opinion, not specific instances of conduct, where, as here, character is not an essential element of a charge, claim, or defense. KRE 405.