People v. Smith

Pigott, J. (concurring).

In my view, Supreme Court abused its discretion in ruling that cross-examination of the defendant could include eliciting the Penal Law names of his prior convictions. However, I find the error in this case to be harmless and therefore concur in the result.

A criminal defendant who chooses to testify may be cross-examined regarding prior crimes and bad acts that bear on his credibility as a witness. However, under People v Sandoval (34 NY2d 371 [1974]), the trial court must strike a proper balance between the probative value of evidence of defendant’s prior convictions…