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Sweet v. Roy4/26/2002
was present. We affirmed on the basis that fear of disclosure of the misconduct in submission of the vouchers was the motive for the perjurious testimony. Id. at 604, 587 A.2d at 943-44.
As with other grounds for admission of bad act evidence, it is important that the exception not become a pretext for admission of character evidence. Thus in State v. Winter, a rape case, we held that evidence that the defendant committed a rape on another woman was not admissible based on the logic that the defendant's conduct was motivated by sexual gratification in the other rape so he must have had the same motivation for the rape for which he was being tried. 162 Vt. at 394-95, 648 A.2d at 628. We held that this logic was "no more than an impermissible propensity analysis," id. at 395, 648 A.2d at 628, and also rejected it because it admitted "the uncharged misconduct evidence as bearing on an issue not contested." Id.
Here, plaintiff was in the position of explaining conduct that appeared bizarre. Without the historical context, and the evidence of defendants' conduct with other tenants, their actions in refusing to return telephone calls, answer letters or cash rent checks from plaintiff were inexplicable. Nor could the jury be expected to understand why defendants might vandalize plaintiff's mobile home. Only by learning defendants' motives could the jury understand why they would engage in the conduct alleged by plaintiff. See State v. Recor, 150 Vt. 40, 43-44, 549 A.2d 1382, 1385-86 (1988) (in child sexual assault case, after defense brought out in cross-examination that victim hated defendant, prosecution allowed to show in redirect that hatred was motivated by fact that defendant sexually assaulted victim on an earlier occasion). Admission of the evidence of the Wright case, and the experience of other tenants, established defendants' motives without using impermissible propensity analysis.
There is another ground for admitting the prior bad act evidence. Plaintiff sought and obtained punitive damages in this case. The evidence involving the Wright case, as well as the evidence of the experience of other tenants, was admissible on whether to award punitive damages and on the amount of any punitive damages. See Devine v. Rand, 38 Vt. 621, 626-27 (1866). As the United States Supreme Court explained:
Certainly, evidence that a defendant has repeatedly engaged in prohibited conduct while knowing or suspecting that it was unlawful would provide relevant support for an argument that strong medicine is required to cure the defendant's disrespect for the law. . . . Our holdings that a recidivist may be punished more severely than a first offender recognize that repeated misconduct is more reprehensible that an individual instance of malfeasance. BMW of North America, Inc. v. Gore, 517 U.S. 559, 576-77 (1996) (citations omitted); see also Smith v. Ingersoll-Rand Co., 214 F.3d 1235, 1249-50 (10th Cir. 2000) (in products liability action, plaintiff could show that allegedly defective milling machine had injured others as bearing on punitive damages); Potter v. Chicago Pneumatic Tool Co., 694 A.2d 1319, 1352 (Conn. 1997) (same); Webster v. Boyett, 496 S.E.2d 459, 462-63 (Ga. 1998) (in automobile negligence action where defendant was alleged to be intoxicated, evidence of prior acts of driving while intoxicated are admissible as bearing on punitive damages); Harris v. Solely, 756 A.2d 499, 507 (Me. 2000) (in tort action against former landlord for intentional infliction of mental distress, conversion and breach of contract based on landlord failing to maintain premises and sending agents to break into the apartment, "prior misconduct by a defendant that is similar to the misconduct giving
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