Louisiana v. Taylor

Defendant Joseph Taylor was charged with possession with intent to distribute (“PWITD”) cocaine and conspiracy to distribute cocaine. The state sought to introduce evidence of defendant’s three alleged prior convictions at trial: one PWITD cocaine and two for possession of cocaine. In accordance with Louisiana Code of Evidence article 404(B)(1) and "Louisiana v. Prieur," (277 So. 2d 126 (La. 1973)), the state filed two notices of intent to introduce such evidence, attaching the three police reports associated with these prior incidents to satisfy its burden of proof. The district court issued rulings allowing the state to introduce the other crimes evidence and the court of appeal denied defendant’s writ applications. The Supreme Court granted defendant’s two writ applications to address the correctness of the district court’s rulings and to re-examine the requirements and procedure for introduction of “other crimes, wrongs or acts” evidence at trial. The Court affirmed the ruling of the district court relative to the admissibility of defendant’s prior PWITD cocaine conviction. However, the Court reversed the district court’s ruling relative to the admissibility of defendant’s prior two convictions for possession of cocaine and remanded this matter back to the district court to conduct a pre-trial evidentiary hearing to determine the admissibility of this evidence. View "Louisiana v. Taylor" on Justia Law