Section 10.7 Acts Without Conviction

• Library: Evidence 2017

2. (§10.7) Acts Without Conviction

Arrests and investigations may be introduced to attack the witness’s truth or veracity.

By volunteering information regarding his good character, a defendant invites inquiry into mere arrests or investigations not resulting in conviction. In addition, when a defendant testifies that he has never been in any “trouble,” he opens the door not only to prior arrests, but also to earlier acts of misconduct.

State v. Collier, 892 S.W.2d 686, 690 (Mo. App. W.D. 1994) (citations omitted); see also State v. Moyers, 266 S.W.3d 272, 280 (Mo. App. W.D. 2008) (a defendant can “open the door” to cross-examination regarding a prior arrest). Thus, a witness may be impeached by specific bad acts that have not resulted in a criminal conviction if the specific act bears on the veracity of the witness. See Arnold v. Alton R. Co....