Davis v. Alaska (No. 72-5794) ___
Syllabus	Opinion [ Burger ]	Concurrence [ Stewart ]	Dissent [ White ]
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STEWART, J., Concurring Opinion

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

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415 U.S. 308

Davis v. Alaska

CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF ALASKA

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No. 72-5794 Argued: December 12, 1973 --- Decided: February 27, 1974

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MR. JUSTICE STEWART, concurring.

The Court holds that, in the circumstances of this case, the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments conferred the right to cross-examine a particular prosecution witness about his delinquency adjudication for burglary and his status as a probationer. Such cross-examination was necessary in this case in order "to show the existence of possible bias and prejudice . . . ," ante at 317. In joining the Court's opinion, I would emphasize that the Court neither holds nor suggests that the Constitution confers a right in every case to impeach the general credibility of a witness through cross-examination about his past delinquency adjudications or criminal convictions.