People v. Allweiss, 48 N.Y.2d 40 (1979)
Evidence of prior uncharged crimes is admissible to prove the identity of the defendant where the crimes share a sufficiently unique modus operandi with the charged crime, such that the evidence is highly probative and its probative value outweighs the potential prejudice to the defendant.
Summary
Allweiss was convicted of murder. The prosecution introduced evidence of six prior rapes committed by Allweiss, arguing they shared a unique modus operandi with the murder. The New York Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction, holding that the prior crimes were admissible to establish identity because of the distinct similarities between the rapes and the murder, making the evidence highly probative. The court emphasized the trial judge’s careful instructions to the jury limiting the use of the evidence to the issue of identity, minimizing potential prejudice.
Facts
Carol Hoffman was found murdered in her apartment. Her boyfriend, Vincent St. George, had spoken to her shortly before her death and heard a man’s voice in the background. The man claimed to be searching for someone who raped his wife. The apartment showed signs of disarray only in the lingerie drawer. A strand of hair was found in the victim’s teeth. Six women testified that Allweiss had raped them in the months leading up to the murder.
Procedural History
Allweiss was convicted of murder in the trial court. The Appellate Division affirmed the conviction, with one Justice dissenting. The case was then appealed to the New York Court of Appeals.
Issue(s)
Whether the trial court erred in admitting evidence of Allweiss’s prior rapes to prove his identity as the murderer, arguing that the prejudicial effect of the evidence outweighed its probative value.
Holding
Yes, because the prior crimes shared a sufficiently unique modus operandi with the murder, making the evidence highly probative on the issue of identity, and the trial court minimized potential prejudice through limiting instructions to the jury.
Court’s Reasoning
The court acknowledged the general rule that evidence of uncharged crimes is inadmissible to show a defendant’s propensity to commit crimes. However, such evidence is admissible if relevant to prove some other fact in the case, such as identity. To be admissible on the issue of identity, the prior crimes must share a sufficiently unique modus operandi with the charged crime. The court pointed to several unique factors connecting Allweiss to the crime. Specifically, the bizarre story about a raped wife/fiancée, told both by the man in Hoffman’s apartment and by Allweiss in prior rapes; the unusual interest in lingerie, shown both by Allweiss’s rummaging through the victims’ lingerie drawers during the rapes, and the disarray of Hoffman’s lingerie drawer. The court reasoned that the trial court properly limited the proof to the surrounding circumstances without dwelling on the details of the sex acts and the prosecutor exercised similar restraint during summation. The court instructed the jury, during the voir dire and later in the charge, that the evidence was only to be considered on the issue of identity. Thus prejudice to the defendant’s case, which is always possible whenever evidence of other crimes is admitted, was appropriately minimized by the care exercised by the prosecutor and the Trial Judge and was outweighed by the importance and probative value of this testimony to the central issue of the killer’s identity. The Court quoted People v. Molineux, 168 NY 264, 313 stating that “it is much easier to believe in the guilt of an accused person when it is known or suspected that he has previously committed a similar crime”.