Opinion ID: 1134236
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: did the trial court err in imposing a time limitation in limiting the evidence the appellant could offer in impeaching state's witnesses tommy hill and jack amison as to their prior convictions?

Text: Jack Amison and Tommy Hill were the State's witnesses who identified the appellant as the man they saw running out of the Super Stop with a gun. The State requested the court to limit any cross-examination by the defense of any conviction of Hill or Amison outside Mississippi Rule of Evidence 609 due to that rule's limitation as to crimes older than ten years, which request the Court granted. Mississippi Rule of Evidence 609(a) and (b) and part of the comment thereto read as follows: Rule 609. IMPEACHMENT BY EVIDENCE OF CONVICTION OF CRIME (a) General Rule. For the purpose of attacking the credibility of a witness, evidence that he has been convicted of a crime shall be admitted if elicited from him or established by public record during cross-examination but only if the crime (1) was punishable by death or imprisonment in excess of one year under the law under which he was convicted, and the court determines that the probative value of admitting this evidence outweighs its prejudicial effect on a party or (2) involved dishonesty or false statement, regardless of the punishment. (b) Time Limit. Evidence of a conviction under this rule is not admissible if a period of more than ten years has elapsed since the date of the conviction or of the release of the witness from the confinement imposed for that conviction, whichever is the later date, unless the court determines, in the interests of justice, that the probative value of the conviction supported by the specific facts and circumstances substantially outweighs its prejudicial effect. However, evidence of a conviction more than ten years old as calculated herein, is not admissible unless the proponent gives to the adverse party sufficient advance written notice of intent to use such evidence to provide the adverse party with a fair opportunity to contest the use of such evidence. ... . Comment ... . The phrase dishonesty or false statement in 609(a)(2) means crimes such as perjury or subornation of perjury, false statement, fraud, embezzlement, false pretense, or any other offense in the nature of crimen falsi, the commission of which involves some element of deceit, untruthfulness, or falsification bearing on the accused's propensity to testify truthfully. The admission of prior convictions involving dishonesty or false statement is not within the discretion of the court. Such convictions are peculiarly probative of credibility and are always to be admitted. ... . Subsection (b) imposes a time limitation on prior convictions. If the conviction occurred more than ten years earlier, it may not be used as impeachment evidence. The rationale underlying subsection (b) is based on fairness. A person's past should not be able to haunt him for the duration of his life. The judge may grant an exception in instances where the probativeness of the conviction substantially outweighs the prejudice. But, before the judge makes such a decision, the proponent must give the adversary sufficient notice so that the adversary may challenge the decision. Prior to the rules Mississippi had no time limitation regarding prior convictions. The courts held only that the prior conviction should not be too remote in time from the case at bar. That principle obviously left a great deal of discretion with the trial judge in determining remoteness. Thus, the appellate court often upheld the use of prior convictions for impeachment which were far in excess of the ten year limitation of Rule 609(b). ... . The defense asserted its intention to cross-examine the witnesses for impeachment purposes concerning those convictions occurring more than ten years before. As to Rule 609's requirement of written notice, the defense stated that the State already knew of defense counsel's intention because the State had furnished the defendant with the information and there had been a previous trial in the case. Defense counsel then asserted that the prior convictions were admissible under Rule 609(a)(2) as crimes involving dishonesty or false statements. The trial court refused to allow the introduction of prior convictions occurring more than ten years ago. On cross-examination, Hill admitted that he had been convicted of crimes since 1976. On redirect, Hill stated that the crime was a 1985 conviction for possession of untaxed whiskey. Amison testified that he had been convicted of manufacture, possession and transportation of untaxed liquor in 1985. Numerous convictions of Hill for possession or transportation of untaxed liquor were excluded, and numerous convictions of Amison for manufacture, possession and transportation of untaxed liquor were excluded. Several questions are now examined. First, is the manufacture, possession or transportation of untaxed liquor a crime involving dishonesty or false statement under Rule 609(a)(2)? The case involving the conviction most similar to the one at bar was decided under identical Federal Rule of Evidence 609(a)(2). The second circuit held that a conviction for possession and transportation of untaxed cigarettes was not unrelated to veracity, and hence was admissible under the rule. The court stated that a crime which involves defrauding the revenue stands high in the category of crimes affecting veracity. United States v. Apuzzo, 555 F.2d 306, 307-8 (2d Cir.1977) cert. denied, 435 U.S. 916, 98 S.Ct. 1470, 55 L.Ed.2d 507 (1978). Furthermore, an Arizona court held that a conviction for tax evasion (failure to pay city sales taxes) involves dishonesty and false statement under Arizona Rule of Evidence 609(a)(2). Blankinship v. Duarte, 137 Ariz. 217, 669 P.2d 994, 996 (Ariz. App. 1983). Blankinship cited United States v. Gellman, 677 F.2d 65 (11th Cir.1982), which held that the federal crime of failing to file a federal income tax return is sufficiently reprehensible to meet the exception of Rule 609(a)(2). Id. at 66. Gellman quoted Zukowski v. Dunton, 650 F.2d 30 (4th Cir.1981), with the same holding as to willfully failing to provide information for income tax purposes. Id. at 34. This Court holds that the manufacture, possession or transportation of untaxed liquor is a crime involving dishonesty or false statement under Rule 609(a)(2). The second question is whether a 609(a)(2) conviction is limited by Rule 609(b). The use of any conviction is subject to the time limits of Rule 609(b). McCormick on Evidence § 43 (3d Ed. 1984). The seventh circuit has held that a trial court has no discretion to prevent introduction, for impeachment purposes, of evidence of prior convictions for crimes involving dishonesty or false statements, subject only to the ten-year time limit embodied in rule 609(b). United States v. Kuecker, 740 F.2d 496, 502 (7th Cir.1984) (Emphasis added). The ninth circuit has held that if a prior conviction which falls within Rule 609(b)(2) is not more than ten years old within the meaning of Rule 609(b), it is admissible. United States v. McClintock, 748 F.2d 1278, 1288 (9th Cir.1984), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 822, 106 S.Ct. 75, 88 L.Ed.2d 61 (1985). See United States v. Dixon, 547 F.2d 1079, 1083 (9th Cir.1976); United States v. Hans, 738 F.2d 88, 93 (3rd Cir.1984). The third question is whether the lack of advance written notice precludes the defendant's use of the prior convictions older than ten years. By the express terms of the rule, a criminal defendant is not exempt from the requirement of appropriate notice. See United States v. Word, 806 F.2d 658, 666 (6th Cir.1986), cert. denied, 480 U.S. 922, 107 S.Ct. 1383, 94 L.Ed.2d 697 (1987). Knowledge by the State through the prior trial is particularly inapplicable in this case because the prior trial was conducted before the new Rules of Evidence went into effect. In fact, it is interesting to note that one conviction for carrying a concealed weapon, less than ten years old, was not offered by the defense. Finally, what is the effect of the failure of the defense to make a balancing argument under Rule 609(b)? The federal courts generally agree that a rebuttable presumption exists against the use of prior crime impeachment evidence over ten years old and that such convictions will be admitted very rarely and only in exceptional circumstances. U.S. v. Tisdale, 817 F.2d 1552, 1555 (11th Cir.1987); United States v. Cathey, 591 F.2d 268, 275 (5th Cir.1979); United States v. Singer, 660 F.2d 1295, 1300 (8th Cir.1981), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 1156, 102 S.Ct. 1030, 71 L.Ed.2d 314 (1982). Indeed, even under Rule 609(a)(1), which places a lesser burden upon the proponent, evidence of the crime is not admissible without a finding of the probative value thereof, in order to determine whether the probative value outweighs its prejudicial effect. Ivy v. State, 522 So.2d 740 (Miss. 1988); Peterson v. State, 518 So.2d 632 (Miss. 1987). Even if advance notice was given and a balancing argument made by the defendant, it can hardly be said that the circuit judge was in error when the probative value of the overage convictions has been so decreased by the previous impeachment with the same type crime. See Tisdale, 817 F.2d at 1555; Cathey, 591 F.2d at 277. Johnson asserts that the trial court's exclusion of convictions of over ten years age as to these two witnesses was highly prejudicial to him. He emphasizes the importance of their testimony against him. Important as the testimony might have been, Johnson overlooks the fact that there was other important evidence, such as the identification testimony of Harris and Smith and the testimony of the fingerprint expert. It is this Court's opinion that this assignment of error is without merit and that the trial court's ruling was in accord with Miss. R.Evid. 609(a) and (b).