Mississippi Code
Miss. Code Ann. § 13-1-13 (2026)
Witness may be examined touching interest or convictions
✓ current as of July 2026
Any witness may be examined touching his interest in the cause or his conviction of any crime, and his answers may be contradicted, and his interest or his conviction of a crime established by other evidence. A witness shall not be excused from answering any material and relevant question, unless the answer would expose him to criminal prosecution or penalty.
Codes, 1857, ch. 61, art. 208; 1871, § 778; 1880, § 1607; 1892, § 1746; 1906, § 1923; Hemingway's 1917, § 1583; 1930, § 1532; 1942, § 1693.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 16
cases, 1985–1997 · leading case: Wetz v. State, 503 So. 2d 803 (Miss. 1987).
Wetz v. State, 503 So. 2d 803 (Miss. 1987). “Miss. Code Ann. § 13-1-13 (1972) reads as follows: Any witness may be examined touching his interest in the cause or his conviction of any crime and his answers may be contradicted, and his interest or his conviction of a crime established by other evidence.”
Bass v. State, 597 So. 2d 182 (Miss. 1992). “Miss. Code Ann. § 13-1-13 (1972); Miss. Code Ann.”
Fuselier v. State, 468 So. 2d 45 (Miss. 1985). “§ 13-1-13 (1972) provides that a witness may be examined "touching his interest in the cause or his conviction of any crime, and his answers may be contradicted, and his interest or his conviction of a crime established by other evidence.”
Mhoon v. State, 464 So. 2d 77 (Miss. 1985). “1975); Miss. Code Ann. § 13-1-13 (1972). Appellant's prior burglary convictions were not introduced in order to establish aggravating circumstances, but rather for the limited purpose of impeachment.”
McLemore v. State, 669 So. 2d 19 (Miss. 1996). “at 330 (citing Miss. Code Ann. § 13-1-13 ). Miss. Code Ann.”
Williams v. State, 512 So. 2d 666 (Miss. 1987). “2d 748 (1948); Miss. Code Ann. § 13-1-13 (1972). But see Rule 609, Miss.”
Wallace v. Jones, 572 So. 2d 371 (Miss. 1990). “1989); Miss. Code Ann., § 13-1-13 (1972). See also, Moore v.”
Acevedo v. State, 467 So. 2d 220 (Miss. 1985). “A prosecutor may properly impeach a witness's credibility by showing the witness has prior convictions, Miss. Code Ann. § 13-1-13 (1972), but not by showing that the witness's relatives or acquaintances have prior convictions.”
Cantrell v. State, 507 So. 2d 325 (Miss. 1987). “See Miss. Code Ann. § 13-1-13 (1972). Cantrell was given great latitude in cross-examining J.”
Johnson v. State, 655 So. 2d 37 (Miss. 1995). “[2] Miss. Code Ann. § 13-1-13 (Supp. 1994) reads: any witness may be examined touching his interest in the cause .”
Cummings v. State, 465 So. 2d 993 (Miss. 1985). “Miss. Code Ann. § 13-1-13 (1972), is permissive in allowing witness impeachment and states, Any witness may be examined touching his interest in the cause or his conviction of any crime, and his answers may be contradicted, and his interest or his conviction of a crime…”
Hopkins v. State, 639 So. 2d 1247 (Miss. 1993). “See generally, Staton, Miss. Evidence (2d Ed.), Preface. Before the adoption of the Rules, Mississippi common law had little, if any, restriction on the admissibility of prior criminal convictions.”
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