United States v. Albert Puco

TIMBERS, Circuit Judge:

The decisive issue on this appeal is whether the District Court, in exercising its discretion under our Palumbo decision, 1 erred in ruling that the government could use a 21-year old narcotics conviction of appellant to impeach him while on trial in the instant case for violation of the federal narcotics laws. For the reasons stated below, we hold that the District Court did err in that ruling. We therefore reverse and remand for a new trial.

I

Appellant Albert Puco and co-defendant Robert Gonzalez were first convicted on February 18, 1970 in the Southern District of New…