Crucial Exams

Multistate Bar Examination Practice Question

Under the Federal Rules of Evidence, when may the prosecution introduce evidence of the defendant's bad character to suggest the defendant acted in conformity with that character on the occasion charged?

A police officer arrested D for an assault. At trial, D calls a witness who testifies that D is a peaceful person. The prosecution now wishes to offer testimony that D is in fact known in the community as a violent individual. Which of the following statements accurately states the governing rule?

  • The prosecutor may do so whenever the court gives a limiting instruction telling the jury to consider the evidence only for propensity.

  • The prosecutor may do so only after the defendant has introduced evidence of a pertinent trait of the defendant's own character, and then only to rebut that trait.

  • The prosecutor may never introduce character evidence to prove conduct in conformity with that character in a criminal case.

  • The prosecutor may do so whenever the defendant's character is relevant to any element of the charged offense.

Multistate Bar Examination
Evidence
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