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State v. Lassiter1/12/2005
Considered on Briefs on February 17, 2004
[ .] In this appeal, we confront the problem of when prior act evidence may be used to show modus operandi or motive in order to prove identity. A man entered the home of Scott Davis and assaulted him. At the time, Davis had a relationship with Brenda Tobin. Defendant, John Lassiter, Tobin's former boyfriend, was charged with the assault. At trial, defendant denied involvement in the incident and offered an alibi. To prove that defendant was the assailant, the State sought to offer evidence surrounding defendant's prior conviction for aggravated assault of another former girlfriend. Defendant moved to suppress this evidence, but the trial court ruled that the circumstances of the prior offense were admissible because they tended to prove the assailant's identity. Defendant was convicted of aggravated assault and first degree burglary. He appeals, and we reverse because the circumstances of the prior assault were inadmissible to prove identity.
Background
[ .] On October 2, 2002, Scott Davis was staying at the apartment of his girlfriend, Brenda Tobin, in Ethan, South Dakota. After driving Tobin to work in Mitchell, Davis returned to his rural home near Mt. Vernon, South Dakota. He arrived at 6:30 a.m. Twenty minutes later, he began to leave his home to head for work at a nearby farm.
[ .] As he was leaving his house, Davis noted something peculiar. He turned to investigate and saw a man standing near the door. Davis asked the man why he was on his property. The man struck him on the head with a rock. Then the assailant pushed him back into the house, saying, "I can't let you leave here today." Davis responded, "What do you mean, I can't leave here today? Are you going to kill me?" The assailant smiled. Davis interpreted the response to mean that the assailant intended to kill him.
[ .] Rock in hand, the assailant told Davis that Tobin would eventually cheat on Davis. Not willing to risk fleeing, Davis remained in his home with the assailant for the next hour. Eventually, Davis told the assailant that if he did not arrive at work soon, his employer would come looking for him. This revelation appeared to alarm the assailant who responded that he would leave. Davis and the assailant exited the home. As Davis was driving away, he noticed a light blue vehicle parked along the road near his residence. He wrote down the vehicle's license plate number. He then drove to work where he contacted the sheriff's department and sought medical attention.
[ .] Defendant was Tobin's former boyfriend. The two had lived together for a short time. After they separated, problems arose between them over a vehicle that Tobin had purchased and defendant had made payments on. In the midst of this dispute, in October 2002, Tobin had the vehicle towed from the parking lot where defendant worked. Because he no longer had a car, defendant borrowed a light blue vehicle from one of his friends.
[ .] In making his report to a deputy sheriff, Davis named defendant as his assailant. He also described the car and gave the officer the license plate number. Later, the deputy saw defendant driving the car. Upon stopping it, the deputy placed defendant under arrest.
[ .] Defendant told the deputy that he was returning from Tyndall, South Dakota. He said that he had taken the day off from work to buy a new car. He denied that he had been present at Davis's home, and he gave the deputy a timeline of his activities during the day leading up to his arrest.
[ .] Defendant was charged with the offenses of aggravated assault, kidnapping, and first degree burglary. In a December 2002 trial, defendant
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