NCJ Number
95024
Date Published
1984
Length
598 pages
Annotation
Eleven chapters focus on the logical and legal relevance of substantive evidentiary restrictions on the admission of uncharged misconduct.
Abstract
An introduction examines the importance of uncharged misconduct evidence and the distinctions between uncharged misconduct and related types of evidence. Additional chapters focus on the use of the defendant's uncharged acts to prove facts other than the defendant's bad character, to prove the defendant's identity as a criminal, to prove the commission of actus reus, and to prove mens rea. Further chapters cover the use of uncharged acts for other purposes, including the rebuttal of affirmative defenses, and the use of uncharged acts in civil cases. The legal, constitutional, and substantive evidentiary restrictions on the admission of uncharged conduct are examined in terms of the need for the evidence, the determination of the prejudicial character of evidence, pretrial procedures, posttrial procedures, and the relevance of the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 14th amendments of the Constitution. Discussions of both statutes and case law, footnotes listing law review articles analyzing the doctrine in particular States and Federal circuits, and an appendix listing all the State statutes governing the admission of uncharged misconduct are supplied.