State v. Nance

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

COLEMAN, J.

The issue in this appeal is whether it was error to admit evidence of defendant’s “other crimes, wrongs, or acts” against a third party in a purposeful or knowing murder trial to prove that the homicide was neither accidental nor in self-defense. The Appellate Division in an unpublished opinion concluded that it was reversible error to admit that evidence. We granted the State’s petition for certification, 145 N.J. 375, 678 A.2d 715 (1996), and now reverse.

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Defendant was tried for the purposeful or knowing murder of Michael Snow,…