What is a crime of dishonesty and why does it matter?

Crimes of dishonesty or false statement include theft, fraud, forgery, worthless checks, and similar offenses.

The employment and licensing consequences are the ones people know about. The evidentiary consequence is the one nobody mentions, and it's arguably more significant.

Florida's evidence rules permit a witness's credibility to be attacked with certain prior convictions. That means if you testify in any future proceeding — a criminal case, a civil case, a custody matter — a prior theft or fraud conviction can be raised to suggest you're not credible.

Practically, that can mean advising a defendant in a later case not to testify in their own defense, because doing so would open the door to the prior. A theft conviction from years ago can therefore shape the defense of a completely unrelated case.

That's a durable consequence, and it's a strong argument for resolving a theft charge without a conviction even when the immediate penalty seems minor.