State v. Emerson

The appeals his conviction of assault in the first degree.

The only issue is the misconduct of the prosecuting attorney in asking appellant, when testifying in his own defense:

“Weren’t you put in jail in Minnesota in the summer of 1955 for beating your wife?”

Our cases, collected in the margin,2 hold that such misconduct is reversible error.

*320RCW 5.60.0403 authorizes proof of prior convictions of crimes to affect the credibility of a witness. The reason why mere arrest in contradistinction to a conviction may not be shown is simply stated by Dean Wigmore as follows:

“In. some Courts attention is…