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217 N.W.2d 536

State v. Martin

Supreme Court of Iowa

Decided April 24, 1974

Supreme Court of Iowa · decided 1974-04-24

Key passage — most relied on by later courts

“In our judgment both the history of the statute and the context in which the word "may" appears refute the idea that the Legislature intended to invest the courts with discretion to admit or exclude evidence of a defendant's previous convictions of crime. It must be remembered that in earlier days Hawthorne's convictions would have disqualified him as a witness. Then the Legislature decided total disqualification was too harsh a sanction to add to the punishment prescribed and imposed upon the convict for his crime. In furtherance of that decision it directed that the convicted person should be admitted as a witness, if he chose to testify. But it added that if he did take the witness stand his previous conviction of crime "may" be shown for the purpose of affecting his credibility. 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. . . . 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.”

quoted by 1 later decision, including 89 Wash. 2d 217 - State v. Ruzicka

“For the purpose of affecting the credibility of any witness, his interest in the result of the action, proceeding or matter or his conviction of any crime may be shown by examination or otherwise, and his answers may be contradicted by other evidence. * *”

quoted by 1 later decision, including State v. Sands

Relies on State v. Hawthorne · State v. West · State v. Morris

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1974-04-24

How this case has been cited

Cited by 58 later decisions — most recently September 2011 · most notably State v. Sands (1978), State v. Binet (1984)

2 federal appellate · 54 state decisions — followed in 11 states

33019741980199020002010decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

View the full empirical analysis of this case →

UHLENHOPP, Justice

¶1(dissenting).

¶2The 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.

¶3When 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.

¶4Whether 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.

¶5A 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.)

¶6The 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.

¶7A 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.)

¶8The 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.

¶9A 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.)

¶10The 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).

¶11I would affirm the judgment of the district court.

MOORE, C. J., and LeGRAND and HARRIS, JJ., join this dissent.
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