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Originally Posted by mineistaken
How does it actually work?
If you are jury you would know said past - does not matter if it is allowed as evidence or not. So how come it is a big difference if it is allowed or not? Jury will still know that past... And as you say - it will come down to what version jury believes.
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You are right. It is going to be nearly impossible for them to find a jury where the people haven't heard of the case and know nothing about it beforehand. They could, but it would be a challenge.
In theory you are supposed to ignore everything but the evidence you are presented, but if you knew about his past even if it weren't brought up in court you know that would sway your judgement.
It is a big deal if it is allowed in as evidence because if they do find jurors who don't know much about the case or about his past you know the prosecution will hammer it home and show that he is a guy who has anger issues and a history of violence.
I think with his past as evidence or not, he may well be in trouble because all he had to do was sit in his car and wait for the police like he said he was going to do and none of this would have happened. To me it looks like he took unnecessary action and it ended badly.