People State New York v. James Bennette

A jury found the defendant guilty of robbery, burglary and assault. The Appellate Division reversed the conviction on the law and ordered a new trial. It held that the trial court abused its discretion in permitting the prosecutor to impeach the defendants credibility by questioning him about a prior conviction involving sodomy of an eight-year-old girl. One Justice dissented and granted the People leave to appeal to this court.