Court Opinion

ID: 9559489
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 17:30:10.70921+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:11:12.570855
License: Public Domain

Prager, J.
dissenting:
I respectfully dissent. I am in agreement with the holding of the majority that the trial court erred in admitting evidence of certain prior crimes discussed in the opinion to show intent, preparation, and plan. I cannot agree with the court that evidence of the prior crimes could have been received to prove identity. The prior crimes consisted of two burglaries committed in the city of Liberal. Each of them involved a burglary directed towards a business establishment, which took place during early morning hours at a time when all personnel had vacated the building, and in which entry was forced by the use of a metal tool. The burglary in the case before us was of a jewelry store in which the window glass was broken by a metal instrument. We *451have consistently held that where a similar offense is offered for the purpose of proving identity, the evidence should disclose sufficient facts and circumstances of the other offense to raise a reasonable inference that the defendant committed both of the offenses. It is not sufficient simply to show that the offenses were violations of the same or a similar statute. (State v. Bly, 215 Kan. 168, 523 P.2d 397; State v. Johnson, 210 Kan. 288, 502 P.2d 802.)
In this case the trial court was correct in ruling that the prior crimes evidence was inadmissible to show identity. Both of the prior crimes involved actual entry of the defendant into buildings with criminal activities after entry, while the present charge involved a “hitting and running” crime — the smashing of a window and the scooping up of display items. The burglaries in Liberal involved the entering of a meat market with a tire iron and the breaking into a tavern by tearing through the roof of a building with a tire tool and the burglar dropping through a hole made in the ceiling. I cannot accept the proposition that the facts and circumstances of the Liberal burglaries were sufficiently similar to those of the burglary of the jewelry store in this case so as to raise a reasonable inference that the same person committed all of the offenses. The most that can be said is that all three burglaries were of business establishments, late at night at a time when there were no people in the building, and where entry was made by the use of a metal tool. I would venture to assume that these same factors would be present in the vast majority of burglaries directed towards commercial buildings.
I also cannot agree with the majority that the error in the admission of the evidence of the prior Liberal burglaries was harmless error and did not prejudice the substantial rights of the defendant. The credibility of the two witnesses who identified the defendant was at best doubtful. One witness admitted to three prior crimes involving dishonesty and the other witness had been arrested several weeks earlier for the theft which was investigated by the same detective who investigated the present case. Each of the witnesses had a good motive for pointing the finger of guilt at the defendant. Admittedly, the defendant was found in an awkward location about 200 feet from the jewelry store shortly after the crime was committed. Although the defendant’s explanation that he was hiding under the loading dock to avoid two men who had threatened him and fell asleep is subject to question, never*452theless, he was entitled to have his defense submitted for the consideration of the jurors whose minds had not been prejudiced by evidence of his prior criminal behavior. How can we reasonably conclude on the basis of a cold, printed record that the jury would not have reached a different verdict had the evidence of defendant’s prior crimes not been admitted?
For the reasons set forth above I would reverse the case and grant the defendant a new trial.
Miller, J., joins in the foregoing dissenting opinion.