Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

hello, my brother has been subpeonaed to appear in San Diego Superior Court to be a witness for some property damage case that occured at his place of employment. He doesn't want to go because he's afraid that the defendants attorney may bring up his past criminal record and may cause him to get fired from his job. He was released from prison 16 years ago for assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder and carrying a concealed weapon. Can they bring up his criminal record while he's on the stand? Is there anything he can do to attempt to prevent this from happening? What is rule 609?


Asked on 6/15/12, 2:01 pm

4 Answers from Attorneys
Jacob Kiani Law Office of Jacob I. Kiani

Does he have an attorney that's going with him to the deposition? You really can't prevent an attorney who's deposing you from asking pretty much whatever question he wants because the scope of discovery is broad. But if he hires a lawyer to go with him to the deposition the lawyer can object to questions about his criminal record based on relevancy grounds and privacy grounds. A good lawyer could probably help your brother not have to answer those questions but they might be asked. If you have any other questions, please feel free to give me a call. I give free consultations that are no obligation of 30 minutes.

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Answered on 6/15/12, 2:41 pm
Jacob Kiani Law Office of Jacob I. Kiani

I apologize. I thought you said deposition subpoena, but he got subpoenaed for a trial it sounded like. Sorry about that. Point remains the same. There are things a lawyer could do to try and prevent them from asking him the questions. One thing is there is a Motion to quash the subpoena. That would most likely be the procedural mechanism, but I express no opinion about the advisability of that option as I am not your attorney. Since it's trial, there are evidentiary rules. I believe there are may be something to work with as far as certain evidentiary rules and ways to keep this evidence out. I would have to look into it more first though. I would need to know a lot more facts though before being more specific. Feel free to call me for a free initial consultation.

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Answered on 6/15/12, 3:25 pm
Theresa Hofmeister Theresa Hofmeister, Attorney At Law

Your brother needs to talk to the attorney who subpoenaed him, and then decide whether he needs to hire counsel.

Rule 609 is a Federal Rule of Evidence regarding impeachment by criminal conviction. The text can be found at http://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/fre/rule_609

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Answered on 6/16/12, 3:53 am
Anthony Roach Law Office of Anthony A. Roach

As Ms. Hofmeister points out, Rule 609 is a federal rule, and it will have no application in a state court proceeding. The attorney who is calling him should be made aware that he has a conviction, as it my affect the decision to call him as a witness, or to decide to use a motion in limine prior to the trial to address the admissibility of such testimony.

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Answered on 6/16/12, 12:03 pm


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