People v. Harris

Miller, J.,

dissents, and votes to reverse the judgment and order a new trial on the counts of the indictment charging the defendant with bribing a witness: I respectfully dissent.

The Supreme Court’s decision to permit the People to introduce evidence of an uncharged crime during their case-in-chief had a far-reaching impact on the course and character of the defendant’s entire trial. The court’s evidentiary rulings permitted the defendant to be cast as a man who had been involved in a heinous witness-elimination murder and the specter of that uncharged crime overshadowed the charges for which…