Court Opinion

ID: 9678178
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 06:13:37.551423+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:17:02.379567
License: Public Domain

Andree Layton Roaf, Judge, concurring. In Gary udge, County for the rape of A.H., a fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl, the State was allowed to introduce into evidence the fact that Anderson had also been prosecuted for rape of the same victim during the same time frame in Hot Spring County and that Anderson had already pled guilty to the Hot Spring County charge. The question is not so much whether this evidence is prejudicial, but whether anything could be more prejudicial to Anderson’s right to a fair trial. Nevertheless, I join in affirming the conviction. There is simply no basis in our case law for a reversal based upon a Rule 403 objection, and certainly not where an alleged pedophile is on trial. The majority appropriately deals with this issue in a brief paragraph. The case it relies upon, Flanery v. State, 362 Ark. 311, 208 S.W.3d 187 (2005), treats Flattery’s Rule 403 issue with similar brevity. You will search high and low and not find any real substantive discussion of Rule 403 in the annals of Arkansas law. The abuse of discretion standard is always cited, and maybe a few facts regurgitated followed by the conclusion that no abuse of discretion occurred. The bottom line is that, pursuant to Rule 404(b), the supreme court has consistently recognized the “pedophile exception,” which provides that evidence of similar sexual acts with the same child or other children in the same household is admissible to show a “proclivity toward a specific act with a person or class of persons with whom the accused has an intimate relationship” or to “prove the depraved sexual instinct of the accused.” Dougan v. State, 330 Ark. 827, 957 S.W.2d 182 (1997); Douthitt v. State, 326 Ark. 794, 935 S.W.2d 241 (1996); Mosley v. State, 325 Ark. 469, 929 S.W.2d 693 (1996); Clark v. State, 323 Ark. 211, 913 S.W.2d 297 (1996); Thompson v. State, 322 Ark. 586, 910 S.W.2d 694 (1995). That being the case, there simply cannot be a sincere effort to perform the Rule 403 balancing step or such highly prejudicial evidence would never be allowed in, especially in cases such as this, where the evidence is not even necessary to the State’s case. Rule 403 is supposed to provide the necessary “parameters” for this balancing act. In response to an objection that evidence is unfairly prejudicial, the probative value of the evidence must be weighed against the danger of unfair prejudice. Hernandez v. State, 331 Ark. 301, 962 S.W.2d 756 (1998); George v. State, 306 Ark. 360, 813 S.W.2d 792 (1991). What “parameters” could they possibly have reference to? The Advisory Committee Note to Rule 403 explains that “unfair prejudice” within the context of the rule means “an undue tendency to suggest a decision on an improper basis, commonly, though not necessarily, an emotional one.” In this regard, Anderson asserts in his brief that his conviction was a foregone conclusion once the State was allowed to inform the jury that he had already pled guilty to the same conduct and crime against the same victim in Hot Spring County. Of course he is right. However, it is not considered unfair in Arkansas or indeed in many other jurisdictions to allow such damning evidence as proof of guilt. The “balancing” never really takes place, at either the trial court level or on appeal. Nevertheless, our supreme court precedent mandates that I must concur in affirming this case.