What is the prejudicial impact of evidence in a criminal case where a defendant was convicted and sentenced to a substantial prison term for uncharged acts?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Balcom, 27 Cal.Rptr.2d 666, 7 Cal.4th 414, 867 P.2d 777 (Cal. 1994):

As for the prejudicial impact of the evidence, the circumstance that the uncharged acts resulted in a criminal conviction and a substantial prison term decreases, in two ways, the potential for prejudice, undue consumption of time, or confusing the issues. (Evid.Code, 352.) First, the jury was not tempted to convict defendant of the charged offenses, regardless of his guilt, in order to assure that he would be punished for the uncharged offenses, because the jury was aware he had been sentenced to a substantial prison term for the uncharged offenses. Second, the attention of the jury was not diverted to a determination whether or not defendant had committed the uncharged offenses, because that fact had been determined conclusively by the resulting Michigan conviction. (People v. Ewoldt, supra, 7 Cal.4th at p. ----, 27 Cal.Rptr.2d at p. 660, 867 P.2d at p. 771.)

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