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McGowen v. State9/11/2003
trial only to use defects he introduced to prevail on appeal. For the foregoing reasons, this Court cannot say that the trial court abused its discretion in weighing the probative value versus the prejudicial effect of the testimony of Dr. McGarry and others when deciding to admit such testimony.
. We turn now to McGowen's reliance on Tucker as well as his assertions of plain and structural error. While the exceptions to the general rule against admitting testimony about crimes with which the defendant is not indicted did not apply in Tucker, they do apply to the case sub judice. If one or more of these exceptions applies, then the question of plain or structural error need not be reached because the assignment of error averred in this first issue of McGowen's appeal would become moot.
. Consistent with the exceptions to the general rule against admitting testimony about crimes for which the defendant is not indicted, proffered in Tucker, this Court has held that "even though it may reveal other crimes, evidence or testimony may be given in order to tell a rational and coherent story of what happened and where it is substantially necessary to present a complete story." Flowers v. State, 773 So.2d 309, 319 ( 28) (Miss. 2000) (citing Miss. R. Evid. 404(b); Mackbee v. State, 575 So.2d 16, 27-28 (Miss. 1990); Brown v. State, 483 So.2d 328, 330 (Miss. 1986)). In Flowers this Court added that evidence of another crime is "also admissible if it sheds light upon the motive or if it forms a part of a chain of facts intimately connected so that in order to interpret its general parts, the whole must be heard." Id. (citing Davis v. State, 530 So.2d 694, 697-98 (Miss. 1988)). An exception to the general rule is also granted "when the evidence is integrally related in time, place, and fact to the crime for which the defendant is being tried." Id. (citing McFee v. State, 511 So.2d 130, 136 (Miss. 1987); Ladner v. State, 584 So.2d 743, 758 (Miss. 1991); Wheeler v. State, 536 So.2d 1347, 1352 (Miss. 1988)). Testimony about another crime has been admitted when the other crime formed "a single transaction or closely related series of transactions in relation to the crime charged." Id. (citing Robinson v. State, 497 So.2d 440, 442 (Miss. 1986); Davis v. State, 476 So.2d 608, 609 (Miss. 1985)).
. In Eubanks v. State, 419 So.2d 1330 (Miss. 1982), the defendant, who was convicted of simple assault on a law enforcement officer, appealed when the entire facts and circumstances of his arrest were presented to the jury. Eubanks contended the testimony was inadmissible evidence of another crime because he had been arrested on other charges. This Court, however, held that the officer's testimony describing the warrant he held for the accused's arrest was admissible because it showed the officer was acting within his authority and was substantially necessary to present a complete story. Id. at 1332.
. In Davis, the defendant, who was convicted of armed robbery, appealed when a witness testified that property was stolen from his car that the defendant carjacked. 530 So.2d at 697. Davis argued this testimony was inadmissible because he was not on trial for stealing this property. Id. Even though the trial judge sustained the defendant's objection at trial, this Court held that there was no reversible error because the other crimes mentioned were part of the res gestae of the crime charged and helped shed light on the appellant's motive. Id. at 698.
. In Robinson, the defendant, who was convicted of murder, claimed the trial court committed reversible error by allowing the prosecution to question the defendant about whether he took the victim's wallet out of the victim's pocket. 497
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