Under Rule 609(a)(1), if a witness has a conviction for tax evasion involving false statements, this must be admitted.

• A. False
• B. Only if more than 10 years
• C. Never admissible
• D. True

Answer: (D)

The test hinges on how Rule 609 handles credibility impeachment with prior crimes. Under this rule, for a witness who is not the defendant, a prior felony conviction is admissible to attack truthfulness if the crime was punishable by more than a year in prison. The fact that the crime is a felony matters more than when it occurred—the time since conviction doesn’t bar admissibility under this part of the rule. A tax evasion conviction that involves false statements is a felony and usually carries more than a year’s punishment, so it fits squarely here and can be admitted to impeach credibility.

The scenario doesn’t involve the later-ten-years limitation that applies under the separate time-based provision (which would require closer scrutiny if the conviction were old). The key point is that the felony nature of the tax evasion crime makes the evidence admissible for impeachment under Rule 609(a)(1).