State v. Pedde, 13899
| Decision Date | 18 April 1983 |
| Docket Number | No. 13899,13899 |
| Citation | 334 N.W.2d 41 |
| Parties | STATE of South Dakota, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. William B. PEDDE, Defendant and Appellant. . Considered on Briefs |
| Court | South Dakota Supreme Court |
Jeffrey P. Hallem, Asst. Atty. Gen., Pierre, for plaintiff and appellee; Mark V. Meierhenry, Atty. Gen., Pierre, on brief.
Thomas J. Nicholson, Sioux Falls, for defendant and appellant.
This is an appeal from a judgment of conviction for attempted robbery in the first degree. We affirm.
The incident giving rise to defendant's conviction was an attempted purse snatching outside of Sioux Valley Hospital on the evening of March 30, 1982. The victim testified that a person ran up from behind her, hit her on the shoulder, dragged her a few feet, caused her to fall down with her purse under her, and then ran off. A bone in the victim's shoulder was broken and the victim suffered other injuries as a result of this incident. The victim was unable to see the face of the person who knocked her down, and an elderly lady who was walking with the victim at the time of the incident was unable to testify as to the incident.
An employee of the hospital who was leaving from work at the time of the incident testified that she saw defendant and Keith Seidschlaw, who was tried with defendant but acquitted, run up behind the victim and the elderly lady. The eyewitness further testified that she saw defendant knock the victim down.
In addition to this evidence, an informant and two police detectives testified regarding prior acts of defendant and Seidschlaw. The prior acts testimony related to a March 5, 1982, conversation between defendant, Seidschlaw, and the informant on how defendant and Seidschlaw snatched purses, and an alleged attempt by them to snatch a purse in an area near Sioux Valley Hospital on March 5, 1982.
The informant had been equipped with a concealed transmitter prior to the March 5 meeting. Two detectives stationed outside the informant's apartment were able to hear the conversation. The informant testified that he and defendant and Seidschlaw had engaged in a discussion about how defendant and Seidschlaw would commit a purse snatching, and that "Mr. Pedde stated that they would run up behind the lady, hit her, snatch the purse and haul ass." The informant testified that defendant and Seidschlaw left the apartment and drove off after stating their intent to snatch a purse, but returned and reported that they had been unable to find a suitable victim.
After defendant and Seidschlaw stated their intent to snatch a purse and left the apartment, the detectives followed them down streets in the Sioux Valley Hospital area but soon lost sight of them. The detectives' testimony corroborated the informant's testimony.
At trial, defendant admitted to taking part in the conversation of March 5, 1982, but contended that he was only bragging to the informant, whom he regarded as a hero figure, so as to appear tough. He also admitted going for a drive after the conversation. Both defendant and Seidschlaw presented alibi defenses to the attempted robbery charges.
The trial court determined that the evidence relating to other acts was admissible for the purpose of identity and that its probative value outweighed its prejudicial effect. Defendant contends that the trial court abused its discretion by making this determination.
SDCL 19-12-5 provides:
Evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is not admissible to prove the character of a person in order to show that he acted in conformity therewith. It may, however, be admissible for other purposes, such as proof of motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident.
Evidence of other acts must also be relevant. Evidence is relevant if it has "any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence." SDCL 19-12-1.
Defendant does not dispute that identity was in issue. Although the State presented the testimony of an eyewitness, defendant contested her identification of him as the perpetrator of the crime. In any event, the State is not precluded from introducing evidence relevant to establishing an element of an offense merely because of the existence of other evidence...
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