Rule 404 - Character evidence; crimes or other acts

Question 1

What are prohibited uses of character evidence

Answer 1

Evidence of a person’s character or character trait is not admissible to prove that on a particular occasion the person acted in accordance with the character or trait

Question 2

What are the exceptions for a defendant or victim in a criminal case?

Answer 2

A) a defendant may offer evidence of the defendant’s pertinent trait; and if the evidence is admitted, the prosecutor may offer evidence to rebut it
B) Subject to Rule 412 limitations, a defendant may offer evidence of an alleged victim’s pertinent trait, and if the evidence is admitted, the prosecutor may:

   1) Offer evidence to rebut it; and 
  2) Offer evidence of the defendant's same trait

C) in a homicide case, the prosecutor may offer evidence of the alleged victim’s trait of peacefulness to rebut evidence that the victim was the first aggressor

Question 3

What are the exceptions for a witness?

Answer 3

Evidence of a witness’s character may be admitted under Rules 607, 608, and 609

Question 4

What are the prohibited uses of crimes, wrongs, or other acts?

Answer 4

Evidence of a crime, wrong, or other act is not admissible to prove a person’s character in order to show that on a particular occasion the person acted in accordance with the character

Question 5

What are the permitted uses; notice in a criminal case

Answer 5

This evidence may be admissible for another purpose such as:

1) Proving motive; 2)Opportunity; 3) Intent;
4) Preparation; 5) Plan; 6) Knowledge; 7)Identity; 8) Absence of mistake; 9) or lack of accident

Question 6

What must the prosecutor do if using crimes, wrongs, or other acts?

Answer 6

A) Provide reasonable notice of the general nature of any such evidence that the prosecutor intends to offer at trial; and
B) do so before trail - or during trial if the court, for good cause, excuses lack of pretrial notice