State of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Respondent v. Paul Sands and Frank Sheldrick, Defendants-Appellants

Summary

The Supreme Court of New Jersey affirmed the murder convictions and overruled State v. Hawthorne, holding that N.J.S.A. 2A:81-12 does not require mandatory admission of every prior conviction for impeachment; trial judges have discretion to exclude such evidence when its probative value is substantially outweighed by prejudice. Justice Pashman, in a concurring opinion, expressed concern about the breadth of that discretion.