United States v. Trenkler
United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
61 F.3d 45 (1st Cir. 1995)
A bomb killed one Boston bomb-squad member and severely injured another at the Roslindale home of Thomas Shay, Sr. Alfred Trenkler (defendant) was tried separately from Thomas Shay Jr. on the theory he built the bomb for Shay Jr. to use against his own father. The prosecution introduced evidence that Trenkler had built a similar bomb used in an earlier Quincy, Massachusetts bombing, arguing the striking similarities in components, design, and construction between the two bombs showed Trenkler built both; a database witness also testified that a computerized bomb-characteristics database matched the two devices. The district court admitted the evidence, Trenkler was convicted, and he appealed.
Whether evidence of another criminal act is admissible to prove that the defendant was the one who committed the charged crime.