State v. Greenleaf4/15/1999
dence, however, often referred to in Minnesota as Spreigl evidence after our decision in State v. Spreigl, 272 Minn. 488, 139 N.W.2d 167 (1965), shall not be admitted in a criminal prosecution unless: (1) the evidence is clear and convincing that the person participated in the other offense; (2) the Spreigl evidence is relevant and material to the case; and (3) the probative value of the Spreigl evidence is not outweighed by its potential for unfair prejudice. See State v. Bolte, 530 N.W.2d 191, 197 (Minn. 1995) (detailing procedural requirements and safeguards governing other-crime evidence); see also State v. Landin, 472 N.W.2d 854, 859 (Minn. 1991).
Greeleaf sought to introduce evidence of John Steven Martin's conviction for sexually assaulting a cellmate a year after the Antonich murder. Greenleaf argued that it was evidence tending to prove Martin's propensity to engage in violent, coercive behavior toward others. However, as the trial court correctly noted, this evidence fails to meet the second element of the Spreigl analysis because it is not relevant and material to the charged crime. To be "relevant and material," the other crime must be sufficiently similar to the charged crime in terms of time, place or modus operandi. See State v. Wermerskirchen, 497 N.W.2d 235, 240 (Minn. 1993). While absolute similarity between the Spreigl incident and the charged offense is not required, see Landin, 472 N.W.2d at 860, the greater the similarity between the Spreigl incident and the crime charged, the greater the likelihood that the Spreigl incident is relevant. See State v. Rainer, 411 N.W.2d 490, 497 (Minn. 1987).
In this case, the Spreigl incident is distinctly dissimilar to the murder of Antonich. First, the sexual assault by John Steven Martin occurred almost a year after Antonich's murder. See State v. Cogshell, 538 N.W.2d 120, 124 (Minn. 1995) (holding that an offense committed 15 months earlier was "not closely related to the crime charged in temporal terms"). Second, the sexual assault occurred while John Steven Martin was confined in a prison cell and involved a fellow inmate, while Antonich's murder occurred on a deserted road in front of four witnesses. And third, there was no similarity between the events in terms of modus operandi. In Antonich's murder, according to Greenleaf, John Steven Martin used coercion to force the other four defendants to help him beat Antonich, kidnap him, commandeer his vehicle, and then kill him. In the sexual assault John Steven Martin did not use coercion to force another to commit a crime; he alone committed the sexual assault on a fellow inmate. See Cogshell, 538 N.W.2d at 123-24 (stating that a Spreigl incident must be "sufficiently or substantially similar to the crime charged"). The only similarity between the two crimes is that John Steven Martin has a propensity to commit crimes, something that cannot be proven using Spriegl evidence. See Deans, 356 N.W.2d 676. Accordingly, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in excluding the evidence.
IX.
Finally, Greenleaf argues that the cumulative effect of 10 separate errors by the trial court deprived him of his right to due process. However, the constitutional right to a fair criminal trial does not guarantee a perfect trial, see State v. Billington, 241 Minn. 418, 427, 63 N.W.2d 387, 392-93 (1954), and in this case none of the supposed errors raised by Greenleaf deprived him of a fair trial.
First, the trial court's instruction to defense counsel to "please be more respectful" of an expert witness was at most, in the words of the trial court, a "mild admonition," which does not warrant a new trial. Second, when Mike Martin volunteered testimony, earlier ruled
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