United States v. Calvert
United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
523 F.2d 895 (8th Cir. 1975)
Relevant factsFree
Charged with fraud in connection with killing a business partner after taking out death insurance on him, Ronald Calvert (defendant) objected to the prosecution's introduction of evidence that he had previously collected on insurance policies under similar circumstances; the jury convicted him, and he appealed, arguing the prior-collections evidence was inadmissible character evidence under Federal Rule of Evidence 404(a).
IssueFree
Whether evidence of a defendant's prior similar insurance collections is admissible in a fraud prosecution as proof of preparation and plan, rather than being excluded as improper character evidence.