Character evidence is a term used in the law of evidence to describe any testimony or document submitted for the purpose of proving that a person acted in a particular way on a particular occasion based on the character or disposition of that person. In the United States, Federal Rule of Evidence 404 maps out its permissible and prohibited uses in trials. Three factors typically determine the admissibility of character evidence:
- the purpose the character evidence is being used for
- the form in which the character evidence is offered
- the type of proceeding (civil or criminal) in which the character evidence is offered
Read more about Character Evidence: Purpose, Form, Character Witness, Distinguished From Habit Evidence
Famous quotes containing the words character and/or evidence:
“It is well for the world that in most of us, by the age of thirty, the character has set like plaster, and will never soften again.”
—William James (18421910)
“In spite of the air of fable ... the public were still not at all disposed to receive it as fable. I thence concluded that the facts of my narrative would prove of such a nature as to carry with them sufficient evidence of their own authenticity.”
—Edgar Allan Poe (18091849)