McGowan v. Commonwealth

I respectfully disagree with the majority view that evidence of the July 13, 2004 incident was admissible. Thus, I would reverse the decision of the trial court and remand for a new trial.

ANALYSIS

The issue in this case is not whether the Commonwealth could question appellant as to her knowledge of crack cocaine. Instead, the issue is whether the Commonwealth could introduce evidence of appellant’s possession of crack cocaine on July 13, 2004. The Commonwealth argues that the evidence is admissible for either one of two purposes: (1) as part of the Commonwealth’s case-in-chief, to show…