Opinion
No. 39737.
April 4, 1968.
Appeal from a judgment of the Superior Court for Snohomish County, No. 3526, Thomas R. Stiger, J., entered June 16, 1967. Affirmed.
Prosecution for riding in a stolen vehicle. Defendant appeals from a conviction and sentence.
Hunter Gates and Gerald R. Gates, for appellant (appointed counsel for appeal).
Robert E. Schillberg and David G. Metcalf, for respondent.
The appellant was convicted of the crime of riding in a stolen vehicle. During the trial, over his objection, the state was permitted to question him on cross-examination concerning his prior criminal record, and it was brought out that he had been previously convicted three times for offenses similar to that for which he was on trial. His sole contention on appeal is that the introduction of this evidence was prejudicial and denied him the right to a fair trial.
The same contention was before this court in the recent case of State v. Smithers, 67 Wn.2d 666, 409 P.2d 463 (1965). We held that the evidence was admissible under RCW 10.52.030. (The constitutionality of this statute was determined in the case of State v. Blaine, 64 Wn. 122, 116 P. 660 (1911).) The appellant's counsel argues strenuously for the modification or abandonment of the rule, but we are not convinced that we should retreat from the holdings of these cases.
The judgment is affirmed.
REPORTER'S NOTE
By order of the Supreme Court dated December 13, 1957, the reporter was directed not to publish any opinion of the Supreme Court in bound volumes of the Washington Reports while a petition for rehearing is pending, and until after the final determination if a rehearing is granted.
Pursuant to the above order, the opinions in the following cases, which were published in Vol. 73, Washington Decisions, Second Series, have been withheld from publication in the current volume:
No. 39046 Arnold v. Melani
No. 38429 In re Price's Estate