Court Opinion

ID: 9738623
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 19:58:55.984557+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:07.420044
License: Public Domain

N. J. Kaufman, P.J.
(concurring). I concur in the result reached by the majority, but do so for slightly different reasons.
The majority correctly note that impeachment by evidence of prior convictions which are similar to the crime for which defendant is on trial is not absolutely prohibited. People v Baldwin, 405 Mich 550; 275 NW2d 253 (1979), People v Jackson, 391 Mich 323; 217 NW2d 22 (1974), People v Townsend, 60 Mich App 204; 230 NW2d 378 (1975). A trial court is only required to exercise its discretion in light of the guidelines established in Jackson, supra, 333, in determining whether or not to permit the impeachment.
In the instant case, the trial judge exercised his discretion before permitting the prosecutor to use evidence of the prior convictions to impeach the defendant. Since there is no indication that he applied the Jackson tests in an improper manner, I am not prepared to say that the use of evidence of the two similar convictions is error, while the use of evidence of one similar conviction is not.
I agree, however, that if there was error in this case, it was harmless.