Harris v. State

Summary

The court held that the trial court abused its discretion by admitting extensive evidence of Harris’s prior aggravated battery of a former girlfriend to prove motive and absence of accident or mistake. The evidence either served as impermissible propensity evidence or had minimal probative value substantially outweighed by unfair prejudice. The State failed to show that the error was harmless, so Harris’s convictions were reversed, although the evidence was sufficient to permit a retrial. No separate opinion was provided in the record supplied.