ANDERSON V. COM.
CRIMINAL: EVIDENCE (KRE 404(b) OTHER CRIMES)
2005-SC-001013-MR.pdf
PUBLISHED: AFFIRMING (OPINION BY LAMBERT)
COURT: ANDERSON
DATE RENDERED: 08/23/2007
Synopsis: Although trial court should have prohibited testimony concerning Defendant’s commission of a similar crime pursuant to KRE 404(b), the error was harmless. Anderson’s convictions and 30 year sentence for complicity to burglary, first-degree; two counts of complicity to theft by unlawful taking over $300; and of being a persistent felony offender in the second-degree affirmed.
SC affirmed Defendant’s convictions and 30 year sentence for complicity to burglary, first-degree; two counts of complicity to theft by unlawful taking over $300.00; and of being a persistent felony offender in the second-degree. Although TC violated KRE 404(b) when it allowed the prosecution to elicit testimony concerning Defendant’s commission of a similar crime, the error was harmless. Here, the evidence for the Commonwealth was overwhelming . Viewing the case as a whole, the evidence of Anderson’s past criminal conduct, though in violation of KRE 404(b), was trivial when considered with the totality of the evidence. The Commonwealth produced three eyewitnesses who testified to Anderson’s involvement in the burglary of Dean’s home, two of whom were coconspirators.
Digested by Scott C. Byrd
www.olginandbyrd.com
