State v. Beasley

¶35 In Part IV of its opinion, my colleagues impose a new requirement on trial court judges considering whether to permit impeachment of a criminal defendant with previous felony convictions pursuant to Rule 609(a). Henceforth, “in deciding whether to reveal the nature of the defendant’s offenses to the jury [a trial court] must balance the probative value of the conviction” against “the very real possibility that the jury may misuse this information to the defendant’s prejudice.” Ante ¶ 19. The majority then concludes that the trial court, because it did not make “formal findings” that the…