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IN THIS DRUG OFFENSE TRIAL, COURT SHOULD NOT HAVE ALLOWED IMPEACHMENT OF DEFENDANT WITH EVIDENCE OF PRIOR DRUG-RELATED CONVICTIONS.

Although the error was deemed harmless, the Fourth Department determined the People should not have been allowed, in this drug-offense trial, to impeach defendant with evidence of his prior drug-related convictions:

We agree with defendant that the court abused its discretion in ruling that the People could impeach him using his prior drug-related convictions and their underlying facts. In determining whether the People may impeach a defendant using prior criminal acts, a court must balance the probative value of the evidence on the issue of credibility against the risk of undue prejudice, as measured by the potential impact of the evidence and the possibility that its introduction would deter defendant from testifying in his or her defense (see People v Sandoval, 34 NY2d 371, 376-377). Certain factors should be considered, such as the prior conviction’s temporal proximity, the degree to which the prior conviction bears upon the defendant’s truthfulness, and the extent to which the prior conviction may be taken as evidence of the defendant’s propensity to commit the crime charged (see id.). It is well recognized that ” in the prosecution of drug charges, interrogation as to prior narcotics convictions . . . may present a special risk of impermissible prejudice because of the widely accepted belief that persons previously convicted of narcotics offenses are likely to be habitual offenders’ ” … . Here, the record reveals that the court considered only the temporal proximity of the prior convictions and defendant’s willingness to place his interests above those of society in general … . There is no indication that the court considered the special risk that defendant’s prior drug-related convictions might be taken by the jury as evidence of his propensity to commit the crime charged … . People v Brown, 2017 NY Slip Op 02190, 4th Dept 3-24-17

CRIMINAL LAW (IN THIS DRUG OFFENSE TRIAL, COURT SHOULD NOT HAVE ALLOWED IMPEACHMENT OF DEFENDANT WITH EVIDENCE OF PRIOR DRUG-RELATED CONVICTIONS)/EVIDENCE (CRIMINAL LAW, SANDOVAL, IN THIS DRUG OFFENSE TRIAL, COURT SHOULD NOT HAVE ALLOWED IMPEACHMENT OF DEFENDANT WITH EVIDENCE OF PRIOR DRUG-RELATED CONVICTIONS)/SANDOVAL (IN THIS DRUG OFFENSE TRIAL, COURT SHOULD NOT HAVE ALLOWED IMPEACHMENT OF DEFENDANT WITH EVIDENCE OF PRIOR DRUG-RELATED CONVICTIONS)

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