Mitchell Hamline School of Law Mitchell Hamline Open Access Faculty Scholarship 2009 Spreigl Evidence: Still Searching for a Principled Rule Ted Sampsell-Jones Mitchell Hamline School of Law,
[email protected] Publication Information 35 William Mitchell Law Review 1372 (2009) Repository Citation Sampsell-Jones, Ted, "Spreigl Evidence: Still Searching for a Principled Rule" (2009). Faculty Scholarship. Paper 23. http://open.mitchellhamline.edu/facsch/23 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Mitchell Hamline Open Access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Scholarship by an authorized administrator of Mitchell Hamline Open Access. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Spreigl Evidence: Still Searching for a Principled Rule Abstract This article first examines how Minnesota’s character evidence doctrine developed, with a particular focus on the historical confusion regarding the propriety of the propensity inference. It then examines current case law and argues that Minnesota’s current Spreigl doctrine routinely allows propensity evidence. It finally proposes a choice between abandoning the current Spreigl doctrine and repealing the character rule itself. The uthora takes no position on which alternative should be chosen, but either is better than the status quo. The current doctrine in Minnesota is a Potemkin village. Keywords Evidence law, criminal procedure, character evidence, Minnesota law, criminal law, propensity evidence Disciplines Evidence This article is available at Mitchell Hamline Open Access: http://open.mitchellhamline.edu/facsch/23 SPREIGL EVIDENCE: STILL SEARCHING FOR A PRINCIPLED RULE † Ted Sampsell-Jones I. THE PAST: THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SPREIGL DOCTRINE IN MINNESOTA ..................................................................... 1372 A.