State v. Knapp

Kenneth Knapp appeals from a conviction of second-degree assault with a weapon or thing likely to produce bodily harm. He argues that any one of five alleged errors committed in the trial court, or their cumulative effect, entitles him to a new trial. His initial contention raises a first impression issue—did the court err by ruling that a witness cannot be impeached by the showing of a prior conviction when he was not represented by counsel at the previous prosecution? We have concluded that to exclude evidence of the prior unconstitutional conviction was proper. Defendant’s second…