United States v. Tse
United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
375 F.3d 148 (1st Cir. 2004)
Tse (defendant) was convicted of distributing cocaine to Stephen Williams, a cooperating DEA witness whose sale to Tse was never recorded. Tse sought to impeach Williams by introducing Williams's prior conviction for assault and battery on a police officer (ABPO); the prosecution, in turn, sought to introduce Tse's own prior ABPO conviction. The district court excluded both ABPO convictions as too closely related in its analysis, applying the same standard to each, though it did admit evidence of another of Williams's crimes and his history with drugs. Tse was convicted and appealed, arguing the court used the wrong legal standard for excluding his own prior conviction.
Whether evidence of a defendant-witness's prior conviction is admissible under the same standard as a prior conviction of a non-defendant witness.