P. v. Ames CA5
A jury convicted Joseph Leon Ames of making criminal threats and using a motor vehicle to commit assault with a deadly weapon. The victim was Ames’s on-again, off-again girlfriend, who is also the mother of his child. The charges were based on a minor automobile collision and statements allegedly made during a telephone conversation., the People introduced evidence of prior domestic violence committed by Ames against the same victim. Admitted pursuant to Evidence Code section 1109, the evidence consisted of testimony by the victim regarding the prior incident, photographs of injuries sustained by the victim during that incident, and a nearly 40-minute video of a police interview in which Ames acknowledges his commission of a violent sexual assault. The video contains graphic descriptions of thoroughly deplorable behavior, which Ames recounts with barely a hint of remorse. The video also makes clear that the incident occurred in front of the couple’s toddler-aged daughter.
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