Opinion ID: 1842908
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: impeachment of butler with prior conviction

Text: After the prosecution rested its case, the trial court held a hearing, Peterson v. State, 518 So.2d 632 (Miss. 1987), to determine the admissibility, for impeachment purposes, of Butler's prior conviction for uttering a forged instrument. Butler argues under the Peterson four part test that the prior conviction should not be admissible. Butler also claims that it was prejudicial to postpone the hearing on the admission on the prior conviction until the prosecution has rested its case. Rule 609(a) of the Mississippi Rules of Evidence states: General Rule. For the purpose of attacking the credibility of a witness, evidence that he has been convicted of a crime shall be admitted if elicited from him or established by public record during cross-examination but only if the crime (1) was punishable by death or imprisonment in excess of one year under the law under which he was convicted, and the court determines that the probative value of admitting this evidence outweighs its prejudicial effect on a party or (2) involved dishonesty or false statement, regardless of the punishment. The Comment to Rule 609 states that Peterson sets forth the guidelines to determine the admissibility of convictions under Rule 609(a)(1), not 609(a)(2). The Comment also states that [t]he phrase `dishonesty or false statement' in 609(a)(2) means crimes such as perjury, false statement, fraud, embezzlement, false pretense, or any other offense in the nature of crimen falsi, the commission of which involves some element of deceit, untruthfulness, or falsification bearing on the accused's propensity to testify truthfully. The admission of prior convictions involving dishonesty or false statement is not within the discretion of the court. Such convictions are peculiarly probative of credibility and are always to be admitted. Because the prior conviction was in the nature of crimen falsi, the trial court did not have to hold a Peterson hearing. Under 609(a)(2) the prior conviction of uttering a forged instrument is admissible, and its admissibility is not within the discretion of the court. Johnson v. State, 525 So.2d 809 (Miss. 1988). Also, it is discretionary with the trial court whether to give an advance ruling on the admissibility of prior convictions for impeachment purposes. McInnis v. State, 527 So.2d 84 (Miss. 1988). The circuit judge did not abuse his discretion in holding a hearing on the admissibility of Butler's prior conviction at the close of the prosecution's case. REVERSED AND REMANDED FOR PROCEEDINGS CONSISTENT WITH THIS OPINION. ROY NOBLE LEE, C.J., DAN M. LEE, P.J., and ROBERTSON, SULLIVAN, PITTMAN, BANKS and McRAE, JJ., concur. PRATHER, J., not participating.