Leonard v. United States, 378 U.S. 544, 84 S. Ct. 1696, 12 L. Ed. As Brewer held, there was no reversible error in informing the jury of that aggravator before the sentencing phase, even if reading any of the charged aggravators is neither necessary nor a desirable practice in capital cases. The serial numbers on the handgun were ground off. They are far from justifying irrelevant and highly prejudicial evidence that has no relation to that point or to any other material fact in dispute. Vaughn's testimony was irrelevant because the second gun was not alleged to have been used to commit the murders in this case, but Thompson does not explain how Vaughn's testimony prejudiced him. His testimony was an essential element in the chain of evidence pointing to Thompson as the killer. He did not break 5'10, 130 pound Wesley Crandall's neck. United States v. Burke, 948 F.2d 23 (1st Cir. Thompson also challenges the testimony of New Castle gun dealer Jeff Vaughn, who testified that in October 1990 he sold Crandall a gun resembling the second gun discussed above. DICKSON, SULLIVAN and SELBY, JJ., concur. United States v. York, 933 F.2d 1343, 1353-54 (7th Cir. B. As a result, the decision to admit evidence of Thompson's access to the gun, and the State's offer of corroborative evidence to support Percy's version of the events in New Castle, was within the trial court's discretion. The trial court ruled that the State would be allowed "to simply explain presence and then cut it off and let's get on." Under these circumstances, the errors were not harmless.See footnote 11 See Wickizer v. State, 626 N.E.2d 795, 800-01 (Ind. The details of the prior murder were irrelevant Because the State alleged that Thompson stole the murder weapon from Crandall and subsequently used it to kill Hillis and Beeler, the theft of the gun was relevant to this trial. It may, however, be admissible for other purposes, such as proof of motive, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident Citing Evidence Rules 402 (relevance) and 403 (balance of probative value and prejudice), Thompson argues that the State elicited far more evidence about Crandall's death than was necessary to prove this aspect of its case. The State indicated its intent to offer evidence related to the Crandall murder to establish Thompson's identity, and that it might offer evidence of Thompson's previous felony convictions possibly as rebuttal to any attacks on the credibility of witness Douglas Percy in the event that any such attack may open the door to the use of such evidence. In a second motion in limine, Thompson responded that this evidence was not admissible under the identity exception because the Indianapolis killings and the Crandall murder were not signature crimes. On February 12, 1991, two days prior to the murder, Thompson instructed his girlfriend to purchase a twelve-gauge shotgun and ammunition. I join fully in the majority opinion, but write separately to make an observation pertinent to the second trial. The prosecutor's contention at trial that the Crandall jury verdict constituted validation of Percy is a stretch no court can make. Facebook gives. Cf. Percy did not testify that Crandall was killed in his presence, only that he assumed Thompson shot him in the head. In closing, the State described the undoing of the apparently wrongful conviction of the two men as the beginning of a "circle of justice" that could be closed if the jury returned with a conviction in this case. Without that knowledge it is impossible to conclude what, if any, "validation" of Percy the conviction represents.
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