Purpose
In the United States, character evidence may be offered at trial to
- 1. prove character, if character is a substantive issue in the litigation
- admissibility of character evidence to prove character is not affected by the case's civil or criminal nature
- admissibility of character evidence to prove character is not affected by the case's civil or criminal nature
- 2. prove, through circumstantial evidence, an aspect of an individual's conduct
- character evidence's admissibility as circumstantial evidence is influenced by the case's civil or criminal nature
- character evidence's admissibility as circumstantial evidence is influenced by the case's civil or criminal nature
- 3. impeach or strengthen the credibility of a witness
Character may be a substantive issue in defamation suits, in lawsuits alleging negligent hiring or negligent entrustment, in child custody cases, as well as in loss of consortium cases; character evidence is thus admissible to prove the substantive issues that arise in these types of lawsuits.
If used as circumstantial evidence, FRE 404(a)(1) renders inadmissible character evidence offered to prove that an individual acted "in accordance with" a character or trait "on a particular occasion." It lists several exceptions which apply depending on whether the proceeding is civil or criminal, whether the defense or prosecution is offering the character evidence, and what purpose it is being offered for.
Read more about this topic: Character Evidence
Famous quotes containing the word purpose:
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—Norman Mailer (b. 1923)
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—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)
“A major misunderstanding of child rearing has been the idea that meeting a child’s needs is an end in itself, for the purpose of the child’s mental health. Mothers have not understood that this is but one step in social development, the goal of which is to help a child begin to consider others. As a result, they often have not considered their children but have instead allowed their children’s reality to take precedence, out of a fear of damaging them emotionally.”
—Elaine Heffner (20th century)