Opinion ID: 782363
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Murrell's history of prior convictions

Text: 35 In his post-conviction motion, Murrell also challenged his trial counsel's failure to determine the exact number of criminal convictions on his record before trial. The trial judge, in the absence of the jury, held a pre-trial hearing regarding Murrell's criminal record in an attempt to settle the question. Despite the fact that the court's database listed six convictions, Murrell testified — at the pre-trial hearing and at trial — that he only had four separate convictions: two counts of operating a vehicle without the owner's consent, one misdemeanor count for possession of a controlled substance, and one conviction for fleeing from a police officer 10 . When the parties were unable to reach an agreement or to stipulate to Murrell's prior record of criminal convictions, Murrell continued to dispute the number[ ] of ... conviction[s] on his record at trial, maintaining that he had only four criminal convictions in his record. 11 36 The parties subsequently discovered after trial that Murrell's battery conviction had been overturned (as he maintained) and thus he had been convicted of only five of the convictions listed on the court's database; but they also determined that Murrell had been convicted of another crime not listed on the court's database. 12 Murrell did in fact have six criminal convictions on his record rather than only the four that he admitted to at trial. Thus, if Murrell, during questioning by his own attorney, had admitted having six convictions on his record, he would not have been subject to cross-examination on the nature of his prior record of convictions (including the battery count).