United States v. Drake

Drake (defendant) was charged with fraud for allegedly concealing a third party's security interest while seeking a loan, and defended himself by testifying he had no business education and thus no experience with loan applications, only a psychology background. On cross-examination he admitted he did not actually hold the psychology degree he first claimed, and when he mentioned transferred course credits, the prosecution asked about the first university's records — which showed no such transfer and that Drake had actually been dismissed for falsifying facts in a disciplinary matter. Drake objected to this line of questioning; the trial court allowed it, and he was convicted and appealed.