Court Opinion

ID: 9687871
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 16:52:20.3189+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:08:00.182669
License: Public Domain

UHLENHOPP, Justice
(dissenting).
The Iowa Code provides in § 622.17:
A witness may be interrogated as to his previous conviction for a felony. No other proof is competent, except the record thereof.
When the statute provides that the witness “may” be interrogated regarding conviction of felony, I take it that the discretion on whether or not so to interrogate belongs to the interrogator, not the court.
Whether the statute should be narrowed involves policy considerations pro and con. The legislature enacted the statute as it is and the legislature is the body to narrow the statute if it is to be narrowed, under the legislature’s authority to provide a system of practice in the courts. Iowa Const. Art. V, § 14. If we desire to narrow the statute, I think we should proceed under our rule-making authority and report the proposed change to the legislature pursuant to § 684.19 of the Code.
A New Jersey statute provides in N.J.S. A, tit. 2A, § 81-12:
For the purpose of affecting the credibility of any witness, his interest in the result of the action, proceeding or matter of his conviction of any crime may be shown by examination or otherwise, and . his answers may be contradicted by other evidence .... (Italics added.)
The New Jersey Supreme Court stated in State v. Hawthorne, 49 N.J. 130, 135, 228 A.2d 682, 684:
In the context “may” connotes an authorization, a grant of permission to the parties to civil or criminal actions to show the witness’s previous criminal conviction by testimonial examination or by production of the record. Plainly the option was intended to be given to the State and the defendant in a criminal case, and the plaintiff and defendant in a civil case. No time limit was imposed upon admissibility. There is simply the flat and unrestricted statement that the conviction of crime may be shown to affect credibility. The authorization represented a policy decision by the Legislature, and established, as a matter of law, the admissibility of a conviction without *547regard to time interval between the conviction and the person’s appearance as a witness. Thus, the “may” in the statute does not bespeak a grant of permission or discretion to the trial judge to receive or reject the proof. On the contrary, the parties are invested with the option and if it is exercised the examination must be allowed or the record of conviction received when offered.
A Minnesota statute provides in Minn. S.A. § 595.07:
Every person convicted of a crime shall be a competent witness in any civil or criminal proceeding, but his conviction may be proved for the purpose of affecting the weight of his testimony, either by the record or by his cross-examination, upon which he shall answer any proper question relevant to that inquiry; and the party cross-examining shall not be concluded by his answer thereto. (Italics added.)
The Minnesota Supreme Court held in State v. West, 285 Minn. 188, 196, 197, 173 N.W.2d 468, 473, 474, that under the “plain language” of the statute “the prosecution has a right to cross-examine regarding the facts of conviction, the nature of the offense, and the identity of the defendant.” The court further stated:
The members of this court have noted and given some attention to the recent trend of leaving to the trial court the question of whether the particular conviction raised against defendant as a witness in his own behalf substantially affects his credibility. It is our suggestion, however, that revising § 595.07 to conform to the emerging state law should be left to the legislature. It is not for the courts to make, amend, or change the statutory law, but only to apply it. If its language embodies a definite meaning which involves no absurdity or contradiction, the statute is its own best expositor.
A Missouri statute provides in Mo.Rev. Stat., § 491.050:
Any person who has been convicted of a criminal offense is, notwithstanding, a competent witness; but the conviction may be proved to affect his credibility, either by the record or by his own cross-examination, upon which he must answer any question relevant to that inquiry, and the party cross-examining shall not be concluded by his answer, (Italics added.)
The Missouri Supreme Court stated in State v. Morris, 460 S.W.2d 624, 629 (Mo.), that the State has “an absolute right to show prior convictions solely to affect credibility. If any change therein is to be made, it is up to the General Assembly to do so.” See also State v. Busby, 486 S.W.2d 501 (Mo.) (same).
I would affirm the judgment of the district court.
MOORE, C. J., and LeGRAND and HARRIS, JJ., join this dissent.