Opinion ID: 1958968
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Admission of Papers Found at the Merchant's Pit Dump.

Text: At trial, the presiding justice admitted in evidence certain of the victim's personal papers, and other items such as might be found in a woman's handbag, that had been recovered in a partially burned condition from a dump known as Merchant's Pit, at a remote location in the woods outside Northeast Harbor. Defendant asserts that their admission on the question of his culpability of the murder-robbery was error, [8] first, because the evidence did not connect those exhibits in any way to him. The record does not support that contention. The police found the exhibits at the dump as the result of the report by a 15-year-old boy who had seen defendant at that remote location. Defendant's second argument, that the Merchant's Pit exhibits even if relevant should have been excluded under Evidence Rule 403, is equally unpersuasive. We fail to see how their admission could have resulted in any unfair prejudice to defendant, let alone unfair prejudice that substantially outweighs their obvious probative value. The exhibits were not such as might inflame the minds of the jurors, or otherwise distract them from their duty. There was no error in admitting the Merchant's Pit exhibits.