Maurice E. Travis v. United States

I concur in the opinion of the court with one exception. I also think it was improper and prejudicial to allow the government to inquire of the character witness concerning the defendant’s prior commitment as for contempt of court. Certainly one may “be committed as for contempt upon facts which would have no bearing upon his honesty or integrity * * *.” State v. Sexsmith, 186 Wash. 345, 57 P.2d 1249, 1252. There was nothing in the content of the question to indicate that the defendant’s conviction for contempt of court bore any relationship whatsoever to his truth and veracity — the trait of…