United States v. Torres
Opinion
MEMORANDUM
The appellant claims that the district court abused its discretion by allowing the government to impeach his trial testimony with his prior felony conviction under Federal Rule of Evidence 609(a)(1). Although the appellant objected to the introduction of his conviction prior to trial, he chose to mention it in his own direct testimony. [845] The Supreme Court’s opinion in Ohler v. United States, 529 U.S. 753, 120 S.Ct. 1851, 146 L.Ed.2d 826 (2000), provides a bright-line rule that a defendant waives the right to appeal an adverse Rule 609 ruling if he preemptively presents the impeachment evidence to the jury during his direct testimony. Id. at 758, 760, 120 S.Ct. 1851. Because this is precisely what the appellant did in this case, he “cannot complain on appeal that the evidence was erroneously admitted.” Id. at 755, 120 S.Ct. 1851. Accordingly, the judgment of the district court is
AFFIRMED.
Footnotes
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113 F. App'x 844 (United States v. Torres) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.