Admissibility of Prior Felony Convictions for Impeachment Purposes

• Jurisdiction: Colorado,United States
• Citation: Vol. 32 No. 11 Pg. 79
• Pages: 79
• Publication year: 2003

32 Colo.Law. 79 Colorado Lawyer 2003.

2003, November, Pg. 79. Admissibility of Prior Felony Convictions for Impeachment Purposes

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79

Vol. 32, No. 11, Pg. 79

The Colorado Lawyer
November 2003
Vol. 32, No. 11 [Page 79]

Specialty Law Columns
Civil Evidence
Admissibility of Prior Felony Convictions for Impeachment Purposes
by Richard F. Rodriguez

This month's article was written by Richard F. Rodriguez Denver, an associate with Holme Roberts & Owen LLP - (303) 861-7000

Those interested in submitting an article for publication in Civil Evidence should contact the editor, Lawrence M Zavadil, at (303) 389-4644 or lzavadil@jcfkk.com.

Q: In a civil action, must a court admit evidence of a previous felony conviction of a party witness?

A: Yes, if the evidence is offered to attack or impeach the witness's credibility, and the previous felony conviction occurred less than five years before the witness testifies.

Assumed Facts

Tom Trouble was an accountant employed by the ABC Corporation ("ABC"). During an independent audit, an auditor found some discrepancies in Trouble's accounting practices. The auditor ultimately determined that Trouble had been using corporate funds to finance personal vacations and make other purchases.

ABC sued Trouble for, among other things, civil theft. At the trial management conference, ABC stated that it would attempt to introduce evidence that Trouble had been convicted of felony forgery four and one-half years earlier. At the end of the conference, for reasons related to another witness's unavailability, the court continued the trial for approximately nine months. Thus, the trial was scheduled to be held more than five years after Trouble's felony conviction.

At trial, ABC attempted to introduce the evidence of Trouble's prior felony conviction. Trouble's attorney objected, claiming that the evidence was inadmissible because it had been more than five years since the conviction occurred.

Analysis

CRS § 13-90-101 defines generally who shall be competent to testify at trials.1 Furthermore, in every case, the credibility of a witness may be attacked. This includes questioning the witness's credibility because of a prior felony conviction.2 The conviction can be based on a guilty plea,3 regardless of whether a sentence was imposed.4 The conviction may be used even though an appeal is pending.5 Generally...