Court Opinion

ID: 9689599
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 18:40:59.114277+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:29:19.316870
License: Public Domain

HARRIS, Justice
(dissenting).
I respectfully dissent from division III and the result. I think the majority should interpret the word “conviction,” under § 622.17, The Code, in the light of the statute’s assumption.
The statute presupposes that a jury is entitled to know of a witness’s prior felony, as defined in State v. Martin, 217 N.W.2d 536 (Iowa 1974), in evaluating the veracity of the witness. The majority’s definition of “conviction,” while technically accurate for other purposes, does not seem appropriate for the purposes of this section. Whether another trial court did or did not give the witness a deferred sentence for his crime has nothing to do with the witness’s honesty-
I would adhere to the authorities from other jurisdictions cited in the majority opinion. I would hold the trial court erred in limiting defendant’s cross-examination of the witness.
LeGRAND and LARSON, JJ., join in this dissent.