Opinion ID: 162183
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Whether evidence of prior conviction includes the nature of the conviction

Text: 20 We have held in several cases involving the admissibility of prior convictions of the accused, that [o]rdinarily, it is improper for the prosecution to examine into the details of the crime for which the accused was convicted. The cross-examination should be confined to a showing of the essential facts of convictions, the nature of the crimes, and the punishment. United States v. Albers, 93 F.3d 1469, 1479-80 (10th Cir.1996) (quoting United States v. Wolf, 561 F.2d 1376, 1381 (10th Cir.1977) (emphasis added)). While those statements in Albers and Wolf involved introduction of evidence of the accused's former felony conviction, not that of a simple witness, the Rule in fact demonstrates a greater concern about admitting potentially prejudicial information about the accused than about a mere witness. 1 Thus, we see no reason why we should interpret Rule 609(a)(1) to permit introduction of evidence of the nature of an accused's prior felony conviction, but not evidence of the nature of a witness's prior felony conviction. Accordingly, our relatively sparse case law supports Howell's argument that the evidence of a felony conviction for impeachment purposes under Rule 609(a)(1) ordinarily should include the nature of that felony conviction. 21 Furthermore, other circuits, as well as commentators, considering this issue have also held that Rule 609(a)(1) requires a district court to admit evidence of the nature and number of a non-defendant witness' prior felony convictions. United States v. Burston, 159 F.3d 1328, 1336 (11th Cir.1998) (emphasis added); see also United States v. Fawley, 137 F.3d 458, 473 (7th Cir.1998) (noting that the court has previously held that a prosecutor's questions on cross-examination must be limited to only whether the witness `had previously been convicted of a felony, to what the felony was and to when the conviction was obtained') (quoting United States v. Dow, 457 F.2d 246, 250 (7th Cir.1972)) (emphasis added); Doe v. Sullivan County, 956 F.2d 545, 551 (6th Cir.1992) (noting that, in a section 1983 action, evidence surrounding a witness's prior felony conviction should include the nature of the crime, the number of counts, and the date of the disposition.) (emphasis added); United States v. Guerue, 875 F.2d 189, 190 (8th Cir.1989) (holding that, with respect to a prior felony conviction of the defendant, the district court should have admitted evidence of both the earlier conviction and its nature). See also generally, 4 Jack B. Weinstein & Margaret A. Berger, Weinstein's Federal Evidence § 609.20[2] at 609-57 to 60 (When a prior conviction is admissible for impeachment, the impeaching party is generally limited to establishing the bare facts of the conviction: usually the name of the offense, the date of the conviction, and the sentence.... It may also be improper for the trial court to limit impeachment to the mere fact of a prior conviction, without allowing the impeaching party to specify the nature and number of offenses involved. Circuits that have considered the impeachment of a non-defendant witness have concluded that Rule 609(a)(1) requires the trial court to admit evidence of the nature and date of each conviction, subject to Rule 403 balancing.); Wright & Gold, supra n. 1, § 6134 at 221-27 (examining the various approaches and concluding that the best one, and the one most favored by courts and commentators, limits admissibility to the essential facts of the conviction, which include the number of convictions, the nature of each underlying crime, the time and place of each conviction, and the punishment). 22 Furthermore, we agree with the Eleventh Circuit's explanation of why information about the nature of a witness's felony conviction is relevant: 23 The implicit assumption of Rule 609 is that prior felony convictions have probative value. Their probative value, however, necessarily varies with their nature and number. Evidence of a murder conviction says something far different about a witness' credibility than evidence of a conviction for a minor drug offense, although both may constitute a prior felony conviction. Furthermore, evidence of fifteen murder convictions says something different about a witness' credibility than evidence of only one such conviction. We are not certain what evidence of two convictions for theft by taking, one conviction for armed robbery, and one conviction for aggravated assault says about [the witness'] credibility, but we are certain that the jury should have been given the opportunity to make that decision. 24 Burston, 159 F.3d at 1335 (footnote and citation omitted). We therefore conclude that the district court erred in adopting a blanket rule that the nature of the government witnesses' felony convictions was categorically inadmissible. We hold that, ordinarily, evidence of a witness's felony conviction shall include information about the nature of that conviction unless, after Rule 403 balancing, the probative value of such evidence is outweighed by its prejudicial effect.