LAW4323 Study Guide - Final Guide: Modus Operandi, Obiter Dictum, Relevance (Law)
Document Summary
If one incident is weak, single it out like in hughes. Id cases the ev must show a distinct modus operandi (ellis; pfennig; straffen) Stock in trade" or "unremarkable" incidents are not enough (ae; cgl: similarities almost certainly helpful but not required (hughes) Actual offending cases: the extent that the ev shows the tendency alleged, does the ev rebut d"s explanation for the conduct? (hughes; rhb, similarities and differences only relevant insofar as they bear on the tendency (hughes) Probative value considerations: are there striking similarities" between the incidents? (boardman, are there stock in trade" (cgl) or unremarkable" (ae) features common to this sort of crime, are the similarities out of d"s control? (pnj) Is there a similar link to a person/entity (cw: do the similarities/differences bear on significant or immaterial things, time gap b/w incidents (perry, number of incidents (makin) Is there an innocent explanation for the prior incidents? (dsj)
