Court Opinion

ID: 9661245
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 22:33:30.33784+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:14:26.597506
License: Public Domain

RAMEY, Chief Justice,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. I do not agree that Sergeant Jimmy Fried (“Fried”) of the Monroe, Louisiana police department should have been permitted to testify about an earlier episode involving Appellant when Fried found appellant flushing marijuana down a commode.
In balancing the probative value of the Fried testimony against its prejudicial nature, as sanctioned by Rule 408, the probative justification for the evidence is not clear to the writer. The “flushing” episode has no relationship to the odor of the contraband, nor does it relate to the condition of Appellant’s olfactory sense at the time of flushing or later at his arrest. As to prejudice to the Appellant, the majority acknowledges that Fried’s testimony, without question, was prejudicial. I concur. Fried testified about an event calculated to spawn vivid images, and the Appellant’s action was the likely response of one who was experienced in disposing of contraband when confronted with the imminent presence of law enforcement personnel. The testimony of the earlier episode was prejudicial to Appellant.
The majority, however, asserts that Fried’s testimony was needed by the State to prove that Appellant exercised care, custody and control over the contraband. Here, at the time of Appellant’s arrest for the subject offense, he was a passenger in a vehicle and the only marijuana found in that car was located in its trunk. The arresting officer testified that marijuana could be smelled in the vehicle. It is claimed that the only link between the contraband in the car trunk and Appellant was the aroma of marijuana wafting through the automobile at the time of the arrest. I do not agree that the State’s claimed “need” for the evidence justifies admission of the Fried testimony in the light of acknowledged resulting prejudice.
I would hold that the trial court abused its discretion in admitting Fried’s testimony.