Jackson v. State

RAKER, Judge.

In this case we must determine whether the trial court abused its discretion by admitting a prior theft conviction to impeach the credibility of a defendant on trial for theft. We shall hold that the decision to permit same-crime impeachment *708was within the trial court’s discretion, and that prior convictions for offenses that are similar or identical to the charged crime are not per se inadmissible.

On January 28 and February 1,1994, the Appellant, Robert M. Jackson, was tried by a jury in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City for theft of $300 or more in violation of Maryland Code…