United States v. Patsy Barb

I respectfully dissent from the decision by the majority that the use of three Tennessee misdemeanor convictions for impeachment of the defendant was reversible error. As the majority has not discussed the Sentencing Guidelines issue, I also decline to express an opinion on that question.

Under Fed.R.Evid. 609(a)(2), if a witness has a prior conviction for a crime involving dishonesty or false statement, the court does *697not have discretion .to deny its admissibility, unless it is more than ten years old or there are other problems with the conviction, not in issue in this case. See United…