US · rules
Fed. R. Evid. 609
Impeachment by Evidence of a Criminal Conviction
(a) I N GENERAL. The following rules apply to attacking a
witness’s character for truthfulness by evidence of a criminal conviction:
(1) for a crime that, in the convicting jurisdiction, was punishable by death or by imprisonment for more than one year,
the evidence:
(A) must be admitted, subject to Rule 403, in a civil case
or in a criminal case in which the witness is not a defendant; and
(B) must be admitted in a criminal case in which the
witness is a defendant, if the probative value of the evidence outweighs its prejudicial effect to that defendant;
and
13 Rule 611 FEDERAL RULES OF EVIDENCE
(2) for any crime regardless of the punishment, the evidence
must be admitted if the court can readily determine that establishing the elements of the crime required proving—or the
witness’s admitting—a dishonest act or false statement.
(b) LIMIT ON USING THE EVIDENCE AFTER 10 Years. This subdivision (b) applies if more than 10 years have passed since the
witness’s conviction or release from confinement for it, whichever
is later. Evidence of the conviction is admissible only if:
(1) its probative value, supported by specific facts and circumstances, substantially outweighs its prejudicial effect; and
(2) the proponent gives an adverse party reasonable written
notice of the intent to use it so that the party has a fair opportunity to contest its use.
(c) EFFECT OF A PARDON, ANNULMENT, OR CERTIFICATE OF REHABILITATION. Evidence of a conviction is not admissible if:
(1) the conviction has been the subject of a pardon, annulment, certificate of rehabilitation, or other equivalent procedure based on a finding that the person has been rehabilitated,
and the person has not been convicted of a later crime punishable by death or by imprisonment for more than one year; or
(2) the conviction has been the subject of a pardon, annulment, or other equivalent procedure based on a finding of innocence.
(d) JUVENILE ADJUDICATIONS. Evidence of a juvenile adjudication
is admissible under this rule only if:
(1) it is offered in a criminal case;
(2) the adjudication was of a witness other than the defendant;
(3) an adult’s conviction for that offense would be admissible
to attack the adult’s credibility; and
(4) admitting the evidence is necessary to fairly determine
guilt or innocence.
(e) PENDENCY OF AN APPEAL. A conviction that satisfies this rule
is admissible even if an appeal is pending. Evidence of the pendency is also admissible.
(As amended Mar. 2, 1987, eff. Oct. 1, 1987; Jan. 26, 1990, eff. Dec.
1, 1990; Apr. 12, 2006, eff. Dec. 1, 2006; Apr. 26, 2011, eff. Dec. 1, 2011.)
Provenance
- Source
- uscourts.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-03
- Edition
- 2026-08-19
- Content hash
011288b5fd940720b8b136f61b33a21f662bc9e6bc11cf67de1e6f54c8ee6591
The link goes to the issuing authority’s own document — the one we read to produce this record. Where a source publishes whole titles rather than sections, your browser may need a moment to jump to the provision.
Unofficial copy of government-published law, reproduced from official sources with full provenance. Not an official publication; verify against official sources before relying on it in a filing. Records in the 'guidance' corpus, and only that corpus, are sub-regulatory (interpretive guidelines, survey procedures) and are not binding law. Validity bounds follow each jurisdiction's declared temporalBasis.