Illinois state police recovered a nine-millimeter handgun from the vehicle that ballistics tests later determined, was the weapon used to kill Hillis and Beeler. They are far from justifying irrelevant and highly prejudicial evidence that has no relation to that point or to any other material fact in dispute. Percy did not see the location of the shot, but assumed that Thompson had shot Crandall in the head. 1997). Reading of Death Penalty Information in Voir Dire We first take up an issue not raised by the parties. When this mandate is observed, the conviction will not be disturbed. Indeed, by the time of closing argument, the State referred to the discrete killings as a "circle" of criminal conduct for which Thompson should be held responsible. The trial court began the voir dire, before any questioning had occurred, by reading both the charging information and the death penalty information to all prospective jurors. Jerry Thompson Obituary. The trial court began the voir dire, before any questioning had occurred, by reading both the charging information and the death penalty information to all prospective jurors. 5. Despite Thompson's actions linking the separate events, the jury was impermissibly left with the "reverberating clang" of the Crandall murder ringing in its ears, United States v. Merriweather, 78 F.3d 1070, 1077 (6th Cir. One of the defendants had killed the possessor of the car (who apparently had stolen the vehicle himself) before the car was driven from Indiana to Illinois. The State's closing argument was replete with references to the Crandall murder, to the extent that an uninformed reader would assume that Thompson was being tried for the Crandall murder in this case. The rules of evidence require courts to guard against exploitation of those details. In its opening argument, the State outlined the events surrounding the Hillis and Beeler murders, and then explained Percy's delayed decision to come forward to tell police what he knew about Thompson's involvement. Our cases have long admonished that "one crime cannot be proved in order to establish another distinct crime even though they be of the same kind. . Although Percy's account of the Crandall murder in its particulars was uncontradicted and largely unchallenged, the State offered further detailed evidence about those events. He claimed this was sufficiently proved by the undisputed evidence that the murder weapon was found when Percy and Thompson were stopped by Illinois state police three months after Hillis and Beeler were killed. Also known as Jerry Gthompson. Not every aggravator needs to be kept from the jury. 1990) (citing Brewer). Rule 404(b) is on the books because evidence of prior crimes is presumptively prejudicial. Percy passed away in 1948, at age 59 at death place. Jerry Thompson (8,289 matches): Phone Number, Email, Address - Spokeo However, the jury's apparent decision to believe Percy may have turned on the wrongly admitted evidence. 2. Pay particular attention to Mr. Percy. The fact of Thompson's conviction for murdering Crandall was wholly irrelevant to establishing his access to the murder weapon. There is enormous potential for prejudice in the guilt phase if the jury is permitted to know from the outset, in a murder case, that the defendant is a convicted killer. All contact info about Douglas E Percy, 61 from Marblehead, Massachusetts - address, e-mail, phone, public records, etc at Inforver FOR FREE. 1993). The State's contention that the extra details of the Crandall murder helped prove identity is unpersuasive. at 367, 417 N.E.2d at 906. Instead what happened, was Jerry Thompson took his shotgun and he blew part of Wesley Crandall's head off, and killed him. Facebook gives people the power. . The Seventh Circuit held that the fact that the possessor had been killed was admissible to prove his lack of consent to the transfer of possession and, therefore, that the car had been stolen from him. When this mandate is observed, the conviction will not be disturbed. In June 1991, defendant Jerry Thompson and Douglas Percy were driving through Illinois and were stopped for a traffic violation. United States v. York, 933 F.2d 1343, 1353-54 (7th Cir.1991) (distinguishing Ostrowsky and lauding trial court's sanitized and tightly controlled admission of evidence of prior murder and vigilant efforts to minimize its prejudicial impact). Citing several cases, the State nonetheless urges a more expansive view of the, identity exception to include evidence of prior crimes in which an instrumentality used in the current crime was acquired. Conviction there could have been based on forensic or other evidence wholly independent of Percy's testimony. I don't think [Rule] 404 precludes the obtaining of the weapon, so the State will be allowed to introduce evidence of the obtaining of the weapon. In sum, the parties and the court concluded before trial that Thompson's access to the murder weapon was relevant to proving that he was the killer.