Court Opinion

ID: 9718706
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 07:31:08.450564+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:24:01.808836
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE HOLDRIDGE, specially concurring: I concur with the result reached in Justice Carter’s opinion. In the spirit of Ockham’s razor, however, I write separately to articulate a simpler analysis. Under People v. Bunch, 159 Ill. App. 3d 494 (1987), a prosecutor may cross-examine a witness regarding prior juvenile convictions where the witness has opened the proverbial door by giving testimony about some aspect of his criminal record. That is what happened here. Although the policy underlying Harris v. New York, 401 U.S. 222, 28 L. Ed. 2d 1, 91 S. Ct. 643 (1971), is instructive by way of comparison, I do not agree with establishing a new Harris-based rule governing impeachment with prior juvenile convictions. In my view, any error that could rightly be remedied under such a rule would also be remediable through Bunch. There is consequently no reason to go beyond the existing law and apply Harris out of its factual context. I would simply affirm the judge’s evidentiary ruling under Bunch.