Opinion ID: 1187718
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: First ProngRelevance

Text: In State v. Ybarra, 102 Idaho 573, 634 P.2d 435 (1981), the Court recognized that `different felonies have different degrees of probative value on the issue of credibility,' id. at 580, 634 P.2d at 442 (quoting People v. Rollo, 20 Cal.3d 109, 141 Cal.Rptr. 177, 569 P.2d 771, 775 (1977)), and identified three categories of felonies to determine whether a prior conviction could be used for impeachment. Category one involves crimes such as perjury which are intimately connected with the issue of credibility. Id. Category two involves crimes such as robbery or burglary which are somewhat less relevant to the issue of credibility. Id. Finally, category three involves `[a]cts of violence ... [which] generally have little or no direct bearing on honesty and veracity.' Id. at 581, 634 P.2d at 443 (quoting Rollo, 141 Cal.Rptr. 177, 569 P.2d at 775). With regard to category two crimes, the Ybarra court noted: On the other hand robbery, larceny, and burglary, while not showing a propensity to falsify, do disclose a disregard for the rights of others which might reasonably be expected to express itself in giving false testimony whenever it would be to the advantage of the witness. If the witness had no compunction against stealing another's property or taking it away from him by physical threat or force, it is hard to see why he would hesitate to obtain an advantage for himself or friend in a trial by giving false testimony. Furthermore, such criminal acts, although evidenced by a single conviction, may represent such a marked break from sanctioned conduct that it affords a reasonable basis of future prediction upon credibility .... Id. (quoting Ladd, Credibility TestCurrent Trends, 89 U. PA. L. REV. 166, 180 (1940)). In Bush this Court held that evidence of a prior Wyoming conviction for immoral acts with a child could be introduced for impeachment purposes under I.R.E. 609. 131 Idaho at 31, 951 P.2d at 1258. The Court stated that [t]he determination whether evidence of a particular felony conviction is relevant to credibility depends on the particular facts and circumstances of each case and must therefore be decided on a case-by-case basis. Id. One of the important facts to consider, the Court noted, was the definition of the particular crime. Id. In concluding that Bush's Wyoming conviction was relevant to the issue of credibility, the Court stated: A sex crime against a minor does not specifically relate to honesty or veracity as does the crime of perjury, and therefore, does not fall within the first category described in Ybarra. Further, the sex crime involved here is not defined in Wyoming law as a violent felony, and therefore does not fall within the third category described in Ybarra. Thus, we conclude that under the specific facts of this case, the Wyoming crime falls within the middle category described in Ybarra, i.e., a crime which, while not directly showing a propensity to falsify, does disclose a disregard for the rights of others which one might reasonably expect to express itself in giving false testimony if such would be advantageous to the witness. Since Bush had no compunction against engaging in immoral acts with a minor, there is no reason to believe that he would hesitate to gain an advantage for himself in this case by giving false testimony. Committing an immoral act with a minor is the type of marked break from sanctioned conduct that [ ... ] affords a reasonable basis for predicting credibility. Id. (quoting Ybarra, 102 Idaho at 581, 634 P.2d at 443). Thompson argues that because his previous conviction of sexual battery, I.C. § 18-1508, is defined as a crime of violence by the legislature in I.C. § 19-5307, his prior conviction falls under Ybarra 's category three crimes which have little or no direct bearing on honesty and veracity. Idaho Code § 19-5307 enumerates I.C. § 18-1508 (dealing with lewd conduct with a minor child under sixteen) under the heading of Fines in cases of crimes of violence. Section 19-5307 lists a number of crimes and sets forth the provisions for imposing fines which operate as a civil judgment. The question is whether this legislative classification moves Thompson's prior felony conviction into a category three crime under Ybarra as an act of violence which has little or no direct bearing on honesty or veracity. The Court believes it does not. It is clear that the legislature was not attempting to classify crimes for evidentiary purposes in § 19-5307. The legislature was addressing the unrelated issue of fines and the enforcement of those fines as civil judgments. Should the legislature's classification of § 18-1508 as a crime of violence be controlling, an anomaly would arise that the admissibility of a prior conviction for impeachment purposes could turn on the state in which the act occurred. The Wyoming and Nevada statutes considered in Bush and State v. Muraco, 132 Idaho 130, 968 P.2d 225 (1998), were essentially the same as I.C. § 18-1508. This Court has approved the use of the convictions under the Wyoming and Nevada statutes for impeachment. Bush, 131 Idaho at 31, 951 P.2d at 1258; Muraco, 132 Idaho at 132-33, 968 P.2d at 227-28. [1] To say that the Idaho conviction for the same type of conduct could not be used because of I.C. § 19-5307 would lead to an inconsistent result that would not have a rational basis. The Court must look at the nature of the charge for evidentiary purposes, not the unrelated legislative classification dealing with fines and their enforcement. Thompson also argues that an act only falls under I.C. § 18-1508 if it is committed with the intent of gratifying lust, passions, or sexual desires and is, by definition, a crime of passion. Consequently, Thompson maintains that his prior conviction under this statute falls under category three and should not have been admitted. The Nevada statute analyzed by this Court in Muraco also criminalized certain conduct which was committed with the intent of arousing, appealing to, or gratifying the lust or passions or sexual desires of that person or of that child. NEV.REV.STAT. § 201.230 (1987). As previously noted, this Court held that evidence of the defendant's prior conviction for lewdness under the Nevada statute was admissible for impeachment purposes under I.R.E. 609. Muraco, 132 Idaho at 133, 968 P.2d at 228. The Nevada statute considered in Muraco, the Wyoming statute considered in Bush and the Idaho statute considered in this case all criminalize similar conduct. Consistent with Bush and Muraco, the Court affirms the trial court's conclusion that Thompson's prior conviction under I.C. § 18-1508A was relevant for impeachment purposes under I.R.E. 609.