NCJ Number
107925
Journal
Indiana Law Review Volume: 20 Issue: 1 Dated: (1987) Pages: 183-208
Date Published
1987
Length
26 pages
Annotation
The general rule in Indiana is that evidence of crimes and misconduct of a criminal defendant, other than of the charged offenses, is not admissible at trial. However, there are a number of exceptions to this exclusionary rule.
Abstract
Their application arises either when the defendant's character is at issue or when evidence is relevant to an element of the charged offense. The four most widely recognized exceptions relate to the defendant's bad character, proof of crime on trial, the res gestae of the charged offense, and cumulative or explanatory evidence after the defendant has broached the subject. A review of cases involving such exceptions indicates that courts in Indiana have properly applied other-crime exceptions in less than 50 percent of the cases, at least according to published opinions. It is suggested that these errors in application are usually errors of analysis rather than errors of substance. The situation can be remedied by a careful analysis of facts of each specific case under the assumption that the exclusion applies. When the facts and their juxtaposition warrant an application, it should be a specifically tailored exception for a specifically accepted purpose. 177 footnotes.