Johnson v. United States

BELSON, Senior Judge:

The issues presented by this case lead us to reexamine the law of this jurisdiction concerning the admission of evidence of crimes other than the crime with which a defendant is charged. Having done so, we reaffirm the longstanding principle set forth in Drew v. United States1 that evidence of another crime is inadmissible to prove disposition to commit the crime charged. At the same time, we continue to recognize that the inadmissibility of such evidence of other crimes may be overcome if it is offered on and determined to be relevant to a material issue in the case. We…