A Molineux hearing is a

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. sta ...

pre-trial hearing on the

admissibility of evidence Admissible evidence, in a court of law, is any testimonial, documentary, or tangible evidence that may be introduced to a factfinder—usually a judge or jury—to establish or to bolster a point put forth by a party to the proceeding. For e ...

of prior uncharged crimes by the defendant in a

criminal trial Criminal procedure is the adjudication process of the criminal law. While criminal procedure differs dramatically by jurisdiction, the process generally begins with a formal criminal charge with the person on trial either being free on bail ...

. In most cases, evidence of prior uncharged crimes is not admissible because of its potential prejudicial effect. Under certain circumstances, it may be admissible. If the

prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal tria ...

wishes to bring in evidence of prior uncharged crimes, they request a Molineux hearing. The judge decides whether the evidence is admissible. The name of the hearing process refers to the case of ''

People v. Molineux ''People v. Molineux'', 168 N.Y. 264 (1901), was a landmark decision by the Court of Appeals of New York concerning the trial of a suspected murderer. Background, Trial and Appellate decision Roland Burnham Molineux, son of General Edward Leslie ...

'', 168 N.Y. 264 (1901), which established the process as precedent.

References

New York (state) law {{US-law-stub

See also

References