What is the effect of prior criminal convictions on a defendant's credibility?

explained, and the record demonstrates, defendant had not led a crime-free life in the interim. "If a prior felony conviction has been followed by a legally blameless life, remoteness is important. [Citation.] Thus, the court may consider defendant's conduct subsequent to the prior conviction. [Citations.]" (People v. Tamborrino, supra, 215 Cal.App.3d at p. 590.) "[C]onvictions remote in time are not automatically inadmissible for impeachment purposes. Even a fairly remote prior conviction is admissible if the defendant has not led a legally blameless life since the time of the remote prior. [Citations.]" (Mendoza, supra, 78 Cal.App.4th at pp. 925-926.) For example, in People v. Green (1995) 34 Cal.App.4th 165 (Green), the court admitted a 20-year-old prior conviction because "his 1973 conviction was followed by five additional convictions in the years 1978, 1985, 1987, 1988, and 1989. Accordingly, 'the systematic occurrence of [defendant's] priors over a 20-year period create[d] a pattern that [was] relevant to [his] credibility.' [Citation.]" (Id. at p. 183.)