State v. Outlaw

LEWIS, Judge;

Defendant brings forward two assignments of error. First, he contends that the court erred in permitting the State to use his “no contest” plea in prior cases as “convictions” for purposes of impeachment. Second, defendant contends that the court erred in allowing the State’s cross-examination of him as to underlying facts surrounding his prior admitted assault convictions.

G.S. 8C-1, Rule 609(a), effective 1 July 1984, provides in pertinent part that “[f]or the purpose of attacking the credibility of a witness, evidence that he had been convicted of a crime . . . shall be…