United States v. Robin Lin Prewitt

Prewitt appeals from his conviction on five counts charging possession of illegally made and unregistered firearms in violation of 26 U.S.C. §§ 5861 (c) and (d). He argues that (1) he was induced not to testify in his own behalf because the trial court improperly ruled that it would admit evidence of his 1963 auto theft conviction for impeach ment purposes, and (2) the firearms were seized in a search that violated the Fourth Amendment because one of the two affidavits upon which the search warrant was based contained intentional and material misstatements, and material facts were intentionally omitted from it. We affirm.

I. Evidence of Prior Conviction.

Before trial, Prewitt moved to have all references to his numerous prior convictions excluded at the trial. The court ruled that if Prewitt should take the stand, it would allow proof of Prewitt’s 1963 conviction for auto theft for impeachment purposes. Prewitt claims that this ruling deterred him from testifying.

This claim has no merit. A trial court has wide discretion in deciding whether to exclude evidence of prior convictions as more prejudicial than probative of lack of credibility. E. g., United States v.…