Opinion ID: 298976
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Impeachment of Dennis Kingsley's Credibility

Text: 27 On both direct and cross-examination, Dennis Kingsley testified with respect to certain juvenile transgressions and admitted that he committed them. The trial court later charged the jury that such transgressions are not to be construed by you to affect his credibility as a witness in this case. He explained that [u]nder the law such offenses are designated as juvenile transgressions and no person under the age of 18 years shall be deemed a criminal by reason of any adjudication relating to such offenses nor shall such an adjudication be deemed a conviction of a crime. 28 The Sixth Amendment right of confrontation has been made applicable to state court proceedings by the Fourteenth Amendment. Pointer v. Texas, 380 U.S. 400, 403, 85 S.Ct. 1065, 13 L.Ed. 2d 923 (1965). In Pointer the Court also stated that the right of cross-examination of witnesses is included in the right of an accused in a criminal case to confront witnesses. 380 U.S. at 404, 85 S. Ct. 1065. Laws argues that the removal of these segments of Kingsley's testimony from the jury's consideration effectively frustrated [his] right to cross-examination and was a denial nunc pro tunc of his right to confrontation as guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment.    However, the constitutional right to cross-examine witnesses does not include the right to impeach such witnesses through the use of any available methods. In United States v. Evans, 398 F.2d 159, 164 (3 Cir. 1968), this court stated: The question of the admissibility of impeaching evidence is not of constitutional proportion but is left to principles of common law. Cf. Rule 26, Fed.R.Crim.Proc., 18 U.S.C. Under N.J.S.A. 2A:81-12, a conviction of any crime can be shown to affect the credibility of any witness. Under N.J.S.A. 2A:4-39 no adjudication against a juvenile offender shall be deemed a conviction. Therefore we conclude that the trial judge acted properly in charging the jury to disregard Dennis Kingsley's juvenile transgressions.