Does a defense attorney have a strategic choice between allowing evidence of prior convictions to be introduced into evidence for impeachment purposes?

Federal Rule of Evidence 609(a)(1) permits the admission of evidence of prior convictions for impeachment purposes. An attorney's strategic decision to elicit evidence of prior convictions from a client prior to its introduction by the opposition, in order to soften its anticipated effect on the jury waives his objection on appeal. Cf. United States v. Williams, 939 F.2d 721, 724 (9th Cir.1991) (a defense attorney has a strategic choice between softening the impact of prior convictions on the jury and preserving the Rule 609 objection for appeal).

Moreover, even if the evidence of prior convictions is inadmissible, there is no reversible error if "[i]t was [plaintiff's] counsel who, perhaps for some strategic purpose, first introduced the fact of the prior conviction into evidence." Cf. id. (quoting United States v. Bryan, 534 F.2d 205, 206 (9th Cir.1976) (per curiam)).