Opinion ID: 2465714
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: impeachment of credibility

Text: Smith next alleges that the trial court erred in denying his motion in limine to prohibit the State from impeaching his credibility with a conviction for four counts of burglary when a conviction for two counts of forgery was available for impeachment purposes. For the purpose of attacking the credibility of a witness, evidence that he has been convicted of a crime shall be admitted but only if the crime (1) was punishable by death or imprisonment in excess of one [1] 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 to a party or a witness.... A.R.E. Rule 609(a). We will not consider this issue for it was not properly preserved for review. In Simmons v. State, 278 Ark. 305, 645 S.W.2d 680 (1983), we adopted the rule approved by the majority in United States v. Cook, 608 F.2d 1175 (9th Cir.1979), where the majority summed up its ruling as follows: In future cases, to preserve the issue for review, a defendant must at least, by a statement of his attorney: (1) establish on the record that he will in fact take the stand and testify if his challenged prior convictions are excluded; and (2) sufficiently outline the nature of his testimony so that the trial court, and the reviewing court, can do the necessary balancing contemplated in Rule 609. In this case, Smith's statement to the court was markedly inadequate. Smith's counsel advised the trial court during a pretrial conference that it's possible the defendant might testify, and if he testifies his testimony would be basically that he did not commit this burglary and rape. Needless to say, this meager statement does not satisfy either prong of the Simmons test. A defendant's interplay with the trial court concerning the issue of the admissibility of his previous conduct is not uncommon. To avoid such occurrences, we choose, at this time, to extend the Simmons test and we now adopt the doctrine promulgated in Luce v. United States, 469 U.S. 38, 105 S.Ct. 460, 83 L.Ed.2d 443 (1984), which states that in order to raise and preserve for review the claim of improper impeachment with a prior conviction, a defendant must testify. See United States v. Doyle, 771 F.2d 250 (7th Cir.1985). The doctrine will be applied prospectively only. The rationale supporting our adoption of the doctrine is succinctly addressed by the federal court. To perform the weighing of the prior conviction's probative value against its prejudicial effect, as required by Rule 609(a)(1), the reviewing court must know the precise nature of the defendant's testimony, which is unknowable when, as here, the defendant does not testify. Any possible harm flowing from a trial court's in limine ruling permitting impeachment by a prior conviction is wholly speculative. Moreover, when the defendant does not testify, the reviewing court has no way of knowing whether the State would have sought so to impeach, and cannot assume that the trial court's adverse ruling motivated the defendant's decision not to testify. Even if these difficulties could be surmounted, the reviewing court would still face the question of harmless error. If in limine rulings under Rule 609(a) were reviewable, almost any error would result in automatic reversal, since the reviewing court could not logically term harmless an error that presumptively kept the defendant from testifying. Requiring a defendant to testify in order to preserve Rule 609(a) claims enables the reviewing court to determine the impact any erroneous impeachment may have in light of the record as a whole, and tends to discourage making motions to exclude impeachment evidence solely to plant reversible error in the event of conviction. Luce, supra . In effect, we preclude any gamesmanship between the State and the defendant and review a claim of error on this point with a more objective standard.