Opinion ID: 2418557
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Admissibility of Appellant's Prior Conviction

Text: Prior to trial, appellant filed a motion in limine to exclude the introduction of evidence relating to a prior conviction for which she was incarcerated over ten years before. Although the trial court ruled at the time that the prior conviction was inadmissible under Ark. R. Evid. 609 (1998) because more than ten years had passed, the trial court ruled during trial that the State could question one of appellant's character witnesses about her knowledge of the convictions. Based on the latter ruling, appellant's counsel chose to elicit the information about the prior conviction during his direct examination of appellant when she was recalled. On appeal, appellant argues that the ruling admitting evidence of her prior conviction violated Ark. R. Evid. 609. Under Rule 609, a party may attack the credibility of a witness with evidence that she has previously been convicted of a felony or crime involving dishonesty or false statement, as long as not more than ten years have elapsed since the date of conviction or release from confinement. Ark. R. Evid. 609(a) and (b) (1998). Appellant's reliance on Ark. R. Evid. 609 is misplaced. Rule 609 applies only when one is attempting to show that the witness herself has been convicted of a crime. Reel v. State, 288 Ark. 189, 702 S.W.2d 809 (1986); Barker v. State, 21 Ark. App. 56, 728 S.W.2d 204 (1987). Appellant's Rule 609 argument raises a relevancy question under Ark. R. Evid. 405(a). See Barker, 21 Ark.App. at 66-67, 728 S.W.2d at 210. Evidence must pass muster under our relevancy inquiry based on Rules 404 and 405 of the Arkansas Rules of Evidence. First, a defendant must establish that the character evidence is admissible under Rule 404, which states in pertinent part: (a) Character Evidence Generally. Evidence of a person's character or a trait of his character is not admissible for the purpose of proving that he acted in conformity therewith on a particular occasion, except: (1) Character of accused. Evidence of a pertinent trait of his character offered by an accused, or by the prosecution to rebut the same. Ark. R. Evid. 404(a)(1) (1998). Once the defendant establishes the admissibility of the character evidence under Rule 404, Rule 405 establishes the methods of proof that may be used. Gooden v. State, 321 Ark. 340, 902 S.W.2d 226 (1995) (citing Smith v. State, 316 Ark. 407, 872 S.W.2d 843 (1994)). Rule 405 provides that in cross-examining a defendant's character witness, it is permissible to inquire into the witness's knowledge of relevant specific instances of conduct. Ark. R. Evid. 405(a) (1998). It is well established that a defendant may open the door to evidence that might otherwise have been inadmissible by producing a character witness. See, e.g., Gooden, 321 Ark. at 342, 902 S.W.2d at 227; Wilburn v. State, 289 Ark. 224, 711 S.W.2d 760 (1986); Reel, 288 Ark. at 190, 702 S.W.2d at 810. In Gooden , the appellant was accused of arson. He called a witness at trial who testified that the appellant had been with him the day of the fire and stated, I don't believe he would do anything like that. I've been knowing him too long. He's not that type of guy. Gooden, 321 Ark. at 341, 902 S.W.2d at 227. The trial court ruled that by this testimony, the appellant had opened the door by placing his character in issue with the witness's statement that he wouldn't do that sort of thing. Id. The trial court allowed the State to cross-examine the witness by asking him if he was aware that the appellant had been previously convicted of four felonies. We affirmed the trial court's decision concluding that the cross-examination was allowed not to show that the appellant had committed the arson, but to determine the weight to be given the character testimony of the witness. Id. In reaching this conclusion, we relied principally on Rules 404 and 405 and on our decision in Reel , where we explained the reason for the rule set out in Ark. R. Evid. 405(a) as follows: The policies behind rule 405(a) are, however, distinguishable from those underlying rule 609(a). The purpose of the cross examination of a character witness with respect to a prior offense is to ascertain the witness' knowledge of facts which should have some bearing on the accused's reputation. If the witness does not know that an accused was previously convicted of a crime, the witness' credibility suffers. If he knows it but then disregards it in forming his opinion of the accused, that may legitimately go to the weight to be given the opinion of the witness ...    By presenting a character witness an accused opens the door which would otherwise be closed. If he wants us to know what his reputation is, we must be able to determine the witness' awareness of the relevant facts. Reel, 288 Ark. at 191-92, 702 S.W.2d at 810-11; see also Rawls v. State, 327 Ark. 34, 937 S.W.2d 637 (1997). The trial court ruled on the basis of appellant's motion in limine that the State could not question appellant about her conviction for possession of marijuana with intent to deliver because it was outside the ten-year limit. Later, the trial court ruled that if appellant opened the door by producing a character witness, it would conduct a sidebar conference at that time and determine whether the State would be allowed to cross-examine the witness regarding her knowledge of the prior conviction. The trial court also stated that it would give the jury an appropriate limiting instruction. Relevancy of evidence is within the sound discretion of the trial court, subject to reversal only if an abuse of discretion is demonstrated. TB of Blytheville v. Little Rock Sign & Emblem, 328 Ark. 688, 946 S.W.2d 930 (1997). The trial court's ruling in the case before us follows the principles established by the foregoing case law. Furthermore, the prior conviction came in because appellant herself took the stand and admitted it in direct examination rather than waiting and risking its admission during cross-examination. We find no abuse of discretion, and we affirm the trial court's ruling.