Ashley v. the State

Because I believe that the trial judge did not abuse its discretion in admitting similar transaction evidence of Ashley’s prior conduct around young children, I respectfully dissent to Division 2 of the majority opinion and otherwise would affirm the conviction.

The majority relies upon United States v. Dickerson, 248 F3d 1036, 1047 (IV) (A) (11th Cir. 2001), for the proposition that similar transaction evidence, when offered as proof of intent, must demonstrate that the extrinsic offense “requires the same intent as the charged offense” under the Federal Rules of Evidence. It is telling that…