Whitty v. State
Supreme Court of Wisconsin
149 N.W.2d 557 (Wis. 1967)
Facts
Whitty (defendant) was charged with molesting a young girl. The prosecution alleged that he lured the victim down an alley and into a basement by telling her that he needed help finding a rabbit. On cross-examination of Whitty, the prosecution alleged that Whitty had lured another girl in the same alley using the same fake rabbit story the night before. Whitty denied that he was in the alley the night before. To rebut this testimony, the prosecution called the little girl from the previous night to testify that Whitty was in fact in the alley and had lured her using a rabbit story. The trial court allowed this testimony and instructed the jury that the testimony was not to be relied upon as evidence of Whitty’s guilt, but rather only for the purpose of identification, since he had denied being in the alley the night before. Whitty was convicted and he appealed on the grounds that the testimony of the girl from the previous night should not have been admitted.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Hallows, J.)
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