State v. Gardner

The defendant was charged with breaking and entering in the nighttime, in violation of 13 V.S.A. § 1201. The only defense presented was diminished capacity due to voluntary intoxication. The defendant alleged that he wished to testify at his trial about what he remembered and what he could not remember on the night in question. This testimony would have related to his defense of diminished capacity. The defendant made a motion in limine to prevent the State from using the defendant’s prior convictions for impeachment if he chose to testify on his own behalf. The defendant specifically…