Commonwealth v. Claypool

This case presents two issues: (1) whether the appellee’s statements to his rape victim that he had been in jail before on a rape conviction were admissible as substantive evidence either under the standard exceptions to the rule barring evidence of prior crimes or for some other reason; and (2) if so, whether the relevance of such evidence must be balanced against its potentially prejudicial effect in determining its admissibility. I believe statements such as those at issue here are admissible if their relevance outweighs any improperly prejudicial impact and that, applying that balancing…