State of Iowa, Appellee v. Ricky Lee Putman, Appellant

Summary

The court affirmed Putman’s conviction, holding that limited evidence concerning two video titles found among child pornography on his electronic devices was admissible to prove the identity of the perpetrator. The titles were strikingly similar to the charged sexual abuse, there was clear proof Putman possessed the videos, and the trial court’s limiting measures kept the evidence’s probative value from being substantially outweighed by unfair prejudice. Justice Wiggins, dissenting, would have excluded the evidence as propensity evidence lacking a sufficient connection to the crime, while Justice Hecht, dissenting, would also have excluded it because of its extraordinary prejudicial effect.