Character Evidence - Purpose

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
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
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:

    “Art for art’s sake, with no purpose, for any purpose perverts art. But art achieves a purpose which is not its own.”
    —Benjamin Constant (1767–1834)

    “The purpose of playing, whose end, both at the first and now,
    was and is, to hold as ‘twere the mirror up to nature: to show
    virtue her feature, scorn her own image, and the very age and
    body of the time his form and pressure.”
    —William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

    “As the purpose of comedy is to correct the vices of men, I see no reason why anyone should be exempt.”
    —Molière [Jean Baptiste Poquelin] (1622–1673)