Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: Does a persons criminal past come up with jury trial?

Prior Felony convictions can be presented to the jury to impeach your credibility.

Re: Does a persons criminal past come up with jury trial?

It really depends on the situation. Generally the defendant's past criminal record should be excluded from the present trial. However, if the past criminal record is related to the present crime and tends to show a pattern of behavior or what is also referred to as modus operandi which means it shows a method of operating then it can be introduced. Your attorney would want to make a motion in limine to prevent the district attorney from referring to or offering evidence regarding past matters due to the prejudicial effect on the Jury. Another exception would be if the defendant's testifies then the past criminal activity may be allowed to impeach the creditability of the defendant. Another situation where it could be introduced would be if the past conviction were a felony and it was less than 10 years since the conviction. These situations can raise an issue regarding the admissibility of prior criminal convictions. There are occasionally other things that can occur during trial which will led to prior convictions being introduced. That is one reason that it is so important to be properly prepared to testify by your attorney. Good luck

Re: Does a persons criminal past come up with jury trial?

If there are prior convictions alleged, your attorney should normally make a motion to sever the counts so the jury doesn't hear them in the underlying case. There are limited reasons the prosecution can introduce a prior incident, but ordinarily, they're excluded as too prejudicial.

If the defendant does testify, however, then the prior conviction may be ruled admissible to impeach or challenge the credibility of the defendant's testimony.

Re: Does a persons criminal past come up with jury trial?

Generally a prior record for a conviction to a theft charge would only come into a jury's knowledge, if the defendant takes the stand and testifies in his own behalf. Then the prior comes in for credibility purposes. David Wallin at www.wallinlaw.com

Re: Does a persons criminal past come up with jury trial?

Even career criminals have rights. It would only come up 1) if your prior related somehow to the present allegations, such as a similar modus operandi or "M.O."; or 2) if the defendant testifies.

Re: Does a persons criminal past come up with jury trial?

The answer in any given case will depend upon the nature of the prior crimes and how they might relate to the current prosecution. This is a very complex and nuanced area of the law, and there is no way to give you an answer without knowing more about your case.

Prosecutors may not introduce evidence of prior crimes merely to make the defendant look like a bad person, but in many instances there will be good reason to tell the jury about such crimes. It often comes down to a judgment call about whether the information will be substantially more prejudicial than probative.