Louis Samuel Cotton v. United States

MURRAH, Chief Judge.

This appeal involves the propriety of the ruling of the trial court which permitted the government to inquire of the accused-witness whether he had been previously adjudicated a juvenile delinquent under the Juvenile Delinquency Act, 18 U.S.C. § 5032, for the same type of offense for which he was then on trial.

The question arose in this way. The appellant was on trial for the possession of a stolen treasury check in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1708, and attempting to utter and publish same in violation of § 495. On direct examination he testified that he had been previously…