Opinion ID: 860588
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Youth Court Records

Text: Hoskins argues that the trial court erred in allowing evidence of his youth court record. On cross examination of a police officer, the defense attorney asked, Did you know at that time that Hoskins had just turned 14 years old? The officer answered, Yes, sir. The defense attorney asked How did you know that? The officer answered that he pulled Hoskins's rap sheet before he obtained a warrant so he knew his address, age, height, and weight from the juvenile arrest report. After the officer gave his answer, Hoskins asked for a conference with the judge outside the presence of the jury, during which the defendant objected to the witness testifying as to Hoskins's juvenile record. The court noted that the witness had answered the attorney's question, and asked the Court the prosecutor to tell his witnesses to refrain from referring to the defendant's juvenile record. Hoskins cites no further mention of Hoskins's juvenile record nor any occasion in which the prosecutor attempted to use the juvenile adjudications against him. Even though evidence of juvenile adjudications is generally not admissible under Mississippi Rule of Evidence 609(d), the defense counsel asked a question that with reasonable foreseeability would have been answered by reference to Hoskins's prior record. Hoskins refers to the experience of the witness and suggests the officer knew better than to refer even indirectly to Hoskins's criminal record. The witness presumably was no more experienced than defense counsel on such matters, and perhaps the question should not have been asked. The reference to the prior record was a brief, and was a logical, and unforced response to a question posed by defense counsel, and consequently no error occurred.