State v. Bell, 178 So. 3d 234

Defendant Floyd M. Bell, Jr. was charged with possession with intent to distribute cocaine.
State filed a 404(B) notice to admit evidence of Bell's prior possession with intent to distribute cocaine to prove intent in the current case.
Trial court admitted the prior-act evidence after argument in May 2014.
Jury convicted Bell of the responsive verdict of attempted possession with intent to distribute cocaine and he was sentenced.
Appellant challenged the admissibility of the 404(B) evidence and the lack of a limiting instruction; the court affirmed the 404(B) ruling but remanded for correction of the Uniform Commitment Order.
The opinion also discusses preservation of error and concludes the commitment order requires correction before final disposition.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether 404(B) evidence was admissible for intent	State: independent relevance to prove intent	Bell: lacks independent relevance; prejudicial	Admissible for intent; prejudice not undue; harmless evidence overall
Whether limiting instructions were properly given	Limiting instruction before deliberations sufficed	No limiting instruction before witnesses; prejudicial	Limiting instruction at trial cured error; no reversible prejudice
Preservation of error for lack of contemporaneous objection	N/A or not explicit	Objection not contemporaneous	Defect not reviewable for this issue; preserved limitations discussed; no reversible error

State v. Maise, 805 So.2d 1141 (La. 2002) (limits on 404(B) evidence; harmless error analysis)
State v. Temple, 806 So.2d 697 (La. App. 5 Cir. 2001) (limiting instruction effectiveness before deliberations)
State v. Prieur, 277 So.2d 126 (La. 1973) (requirement of pre-trial written notice and purpose limitation)
State v. Lisotta, 712 So.2d 527 (La. App. 5 Cir. 1998) (balancing probative value against prejudice in 404(B))
State v. Williams, 833 So.2d 497 (La. App. 5 Cir. 2002) (standard of review for admissibility of 404(B) evidence)
State ex rel. Roland v. State, 937 So.2d 846 (La. 2006) (remand for correction of commitment order)
State v. Long, 106 So.3d 1136 (La. App. 5 Cir. 2012) (remand procedure for uniform commitment)