State v. Bragg

In State v. Bragg, 295 N.J. Super. 459, 467-69, 685 A.2d 488 (App.Div.1996), defendant was charged with kidnaping and assaulting his former girlfriend. The indictment charged defendant with offenses that occurred on June 27 and 28, 1993. Id. at 462, 685 A.2d 488. At trial, however, the victim testified "in graphic detail" concerning "numerous prior occasions" during which the defendant had committed acts of physical violence against her. Id. at 462-63, 685 A.2d 488. The Court reversed because the evidence was inadmissible as "proof of plan," one of the purposes listed in the trial court's instruction, and the jury instruction on the use of this other-crimes evidence was inadequate. Id. at 468, 685 A.2d 488. In Bragg, the two-day kidnaping and the assaults that occurred during that period were distinct from the previous beatings to which the victim testified