State v. Duke

The only question transferred is whether the Court erred in permitting the county solicitor to cross-examine the defendant, who testified voluntarily, concerning his prior criminal offenses for the sole purpose of attacking his credibility. A long and unbroken line of decisions in this state holds that such inquiries may be permitted within the discretion of the Trial Court. In Constantine v. Grenier, 81 N. H. 550, a case of trespass, counsel was permitted, subject to exception, to cross-examine the defendant for the purpose of discrediting him, as to whether he had been convicted of…