People v. Mardlin

The Court of Appeals erroneously concluded that evidence of an unusual number of prior fires — each associated with property owned or controlled by defendant — was inadmissible in this arson case in which defendant was accused of intentionally starting a fire in his home. Because the evidence was not offered to prove defendant’s bad character or his propensity to act in conformity with a bad character, the trial court correctly concluded that MRE 404(b)(1) did not preclude admission of the evidence. Further, the trial court did not abuse its discretion by concluding *612that the evidence was…