Green v. Bock Laundry Machine Co.
Supreme Court
490 U.S. 504 (1989)
Paul Green (plaintiff), a prisoner injured while using an industrial dryer during a work-release program, sued the dryer's manufacturer, Bock Laundry Company (defendant), for products liability; Bock impeached Green at trial with his two prior felony convictions, and the jury found for Bock. Green appealed the denial of his pretrial motion to exclude the convictions, arguing Federal Rule of Evidence 609(a) required a balancing of the convictions' prejudicial effect against their probative value before they could be admitted, and the court of appeals affirmed.
Whether Federal Rule of Evidence 609(a)'s requirement to balance a prior felony conviction's prejudicial effect against its probative value applies to any witness impeached with such a conviction, or only to a criminal defendant.