Can a jury impeach the testimony of a witness who was convicted of murder as a result of a juvenile adjudication?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Pitts, 223 Cal.App.3d 1547, 273 Cal.Rptr. 389 (Cal. App. 1990):

[223 Cal.App.3d 1555] Even if the trial court abused or failed to exercise its discretion, the error was harmless. Assuming murder is the type of crime that can be used for impeachment, it is less relevant to dishonesty than burglary, theft and robbery which were used to impeach the witness's testimony. The fact the murder was committed 11 years earlier, when the witness was 15 or 16 years of age, also detracts from its value as impeachment evidence. It is not reasonably probable the jury would have reached a different, more favorable, verdict had it known about the juvenile adjudication. (People v. Watson (1956) 46 Cal.2d 818, 299 P.2d 243.)

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