Under Rule 608(b), convictions for crimes punishable by death or imprisonment for more than one year are admissible to attack credibility in which situation?

Under Rule 608(b), convictions for crimes punishable by death or imprisonment for more than one year are admissible to attack credibility in which situation?

• A. The prejudicial effect is less than the probative value.
• B. The crime has to be violent regardless of prejudice.
• C. The witness is a defendant regardless of prejudice.
• D. The conviction is older than 20 years.

Answer: (A)

Under Rule 608(b), a witness’s conviction for a crime punishable by death or imprisonment for more than a year can be used to attack credibility, but only if its probative value on truthfulness outweighs the prejudicial effect. In other words, this evidence is admissible when the benefit to proving honesty or dishonesty is greater than the risk of unfair prejudice, confusion, or time waste. The key idea is the balancing test: the evidence should be more helpful than harmful to credibility. That’s why the correct statement is that admissibility occurs when the prejudicial effect is less than the probative value. The rule isn’t automatic for all such crimes, nor is it tied to violence specifically, nor to whether the witness is the defendant, nor to a fixed age of the conviction.

Under Rule 608(b), a witness’s conviction for a crime punishable by death or imprisonment for more than a year can be used to attack credibility, but only if its probative value on truthfulness outweighs the prejudicial effect. In other words, this evidence is admissible when the benefit to proving honesty or dishonesty is greater than the risk of unfair prejudice, confusion, or time waste. The key idea is the balancing test: the evidence should be more helpful than harmful to credibility. That’s why the correct statement is that admissibility occurs when the prejudicial effect is less than the probative value. The rule isn’t automatic for all such crimes, nor is it tied to violence specifically, nor to whether the witness is the defendant, nor to a fixed age of the conviction.