Zarate Not Guilty

[Benton]

(12-01-2017, 10:36 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: I could be wrong in this, but it would be my guess that even had the previous convictions been brought up, they would have been objected to due to relevance. Trying this case on the merits of the case alone, the prior convictions would be difficult to really bring up as none of them were violent crimes. If the crux of the case is proving intent to kill, then those don't help and could possibly result in you being in hot water with the judge.

It's been about 10 years, but I covered a murder case (George Luna) where the guy was accused of murdering a woman and setting fire to her house. He fled, but a trooper pulled him over in another state, where Luna threatened to kill the guy. He was charged with threatening an officer and extradited for murder. Part of his appeal for a new trial was that the jury was tainted when prosecutors brought up him threatening the trooper (there were some other minor discrepancies, too) because it didn't relate to his history or the murder. His conviction was overturned and he was granted a new trial (which he was convicted again and given a harsher sentence).