State v. Terrazas

OPINION

FIDEL, Presiding Judge.

Defendant Mario Amado Terrazas, found guilty of theft in a trial to the court, argues on appeal that the court improperly admitted and considered evidence of his prior bad acts. He presents an issue that remains unsettled in Arizona law: What quantum of proof is needed to admit evidence of a party’s prior crime under Rule 404(b) of the Arizona Rules of Evidence?

Defendant contends that the State must present evidence sufficient to take the prior crime before a jury — that is, evidence sufficient to survive a directed verdict if Defendant were being tried for the…