(1) A party may attack the credibility of any witness, including an accused, by evidence that the witness has been convicted of a crime if the crime was punishable by death or imprisonment in excess of 1 year under the law under which the witness was convicted, or if the crime involved dishonesty or a false statement regardless of the punishment, with the following exceptions:
- (a) Evidence of any such conviction is inadmissible in a civil trial if it is so remote in time as to have no bearing on the present character of the witness.
- (b) Evidence of juvenile adjudications are inadmissible under this subsection.
(2) The pendency of an appeal or the granting of a pardon relating to such crime does not render evidence of the conviction from which the appeal was taken or for which the pardon was granted inadmissible. Evidence of the pendency of the appeal is admissible.
(3) Nothing in this section affects the admissibility of evidence under s. 90.404 or s. 90.608.
Impeachment by Prior Conviction: This rule allows a party to attack a witness's credibility by introducing evidence of their prior criminal convictions. The theory is that a person who has committed certain serious crimes may be less believable under oath.
What Convictions Are Admissible?
A witness can be impeached with two categories of crimes:
- Felonies: Any crime punishable by death or imprisonment for more than one year.
- Crimes of Dishonesty: Any crime—felony or misdemeanor—that involves an element of dishonesty or false statement (e.g., perjury, fraud, embezzlement).
Important Limitations:
- Remoteness (Civil Cases Only): In a civil trial, a judge can exclude a conviction if it is too old ("remote in time") and no longer has any real bearing on the witness's current character for truthfulness.
- Juvenile Adjudications: A witness cannot be impeached with crimes they committed as a juvenile.
Appeals and Pardons: The fact that a conviction is being appealed does not prevent it from being used for impeachment. However, the opposing party is allowed to introduce evidence that the appeal is pending.
