State v. Perry

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the superior court convicting Defendant of two counts of first-degree child molestation sexual assault and one count of second-degree child molestation sexual assault, holding that the trial justice did not err in granting the State’s motion in limine and in admitting the testimony of three witnesses about alleged incidents of Defendant’s prior sexual misconduct under R.I. R. Evid. 404(b).On appeal, Defendant argued that the alleged prior sexual misconduct was too remote and dissimilar to the charged acts to be admissible. The Supreme Court disagreed, holding (1) the challenged testimony satisfied the “nonremote” and “similar” requirements of Rule 404(b) jurisprudence; (2) the evidence was relevant to the crime charged and reasonably necessary; (3) the risk of prejudice did not outweigh the probative value of the allegations of prior sexual misconduct; and (4) there was no error in the trial justice’s analysis under Rule 29(b) of the Superior Court Rules of Criminal Procedure in denying Defendant’s motion to dismiss. View "State v. Perry" on Justia Law