Character Evidence, Habit and Other-Acts Evidence: every key term you need (+ practice quiz)
25 flashcard terms for Evidence Topic 2, written to match the course framework. Study them here, then drill them as interactive flashcards, or test yourself with the 15-question quiz — free, no account needed.
The forbidden chain of reasoning that a person has a trait, acted consistently with that trait on the occasion in question, and therefore probably committed the charged act.
FRE 404(a) general ban
Evidence of a person's character or a character trait is inadmissible to prove that on a particular occasion the person acted in conformity with that character, subject to listed exceptions.
Character trait
A generalized propensity or disposition such as honesty, peacefulness, or violence, as distinguished from a specific act or a settled semi-automatic response to a repeated situation.
Mercy rule
In a criminal case the accused may open the door by offering evidence of a pertinent good character trait, and the prosecution may then rebut with contrary character evidence on that same trait.
Pertinent trait requirement
A defendant's good character evidence must relate to a trait actually at issue in the charged offense, such as peacefulness in an assault case or honesty in a fraud case.
FRE 404(a)(2) victim character
A criminal defendant may offer evidence of a pertinent trait of the alleged victim, and the prosecution may rebut it and may also attack the same trait in the defendant.
Homicide first-aggressor exception
In a homicide case, once the defendant claims the victim struck first, the prosecution may offer evidence of the victim's peaceful character even without defense character proof.
Communicated victim violence
Proof that the defendant knew of the victim's violent acts, offered to show the defendant's reasonable fear rather than the victim's propensity, so it is non-character evidence.
FRE 405(a) methods of proof
When character evidence is allowed, it is normally proved by reputation testimony or by a witness's opinion, and specific instances may be explored on cross-examination.
Have you heard cross-examination
Testing a character witness by asking about the defendant's specific bad acts to probe the witness's knowledge or standards, with no extrinsic proof allowed and a good-faith basis required.
FRE 405(b) essential element
When character or a character trait is an essential element of a charge, claim, or defense, proof may be made by specific instances of conduct as well as reputation and opinion.
Negligent entrustment character
A civil claim in which the entrustee's incompetence or dangerousness is an element, so specific instances of that person's prior conduct are admissible substantively.
Defamation truth defense
A classic essential-element case, since the plaintiff's actual character is at issue when the defendant asserts the truth of a statement about that character.
FRE 404(b) other acts
Evidence of a crime, wrong, or other act is barred to show propensity but is admissible for non-propensity purposes such as motive, intent, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake.
Non-propensity purpose list
The illustrative purposes for other-acts proof, which are examples rather than an exhaustive catalog, each requiring a chain of reasoning that avoids the trait-to-conduct inference.
Absence of mistake or accident
An other-acts theory showing that repeated similar events make an innocent explanation implausible, commonly used in fraud, arson, and child injury prosecutions.
Modus operandi identity theory
Other-acts proof admitted on identity only when the prior act shares distinctive, signature-like features with the charged act, amounting to a behavioral fingerprint.
Common plan or scheme
Other acts admitted because they form part of a single overarching design with the charged offense, rather than merely resembling it or reflecting a similar disposition.
FRE 404(b) notice requirement
In a criminal case the prosecution must give reasonable notice before trial of other-acts evidence it intends to offer, articulating the permitted purpose and the supporting reasoning.
Huddleston conditional relevance
Other-acts evidence need not be proven by a preponderance to the judge; the court admits it if a reasonable jury could find by a preponderance that the act occurred.
Doctrine of chances
A probabilistic theory arguing that an unusual number of similar accidents or coincidences befalling one person makes innocent explanation objectively improbable.
FRE 406 habit
Evidence of a person's habit, meaning a specific, regular, and near-automatic response to a repeated situation, is admissible to prove conforming conduct on a given occasion.
Routine practice of an organization
An entity's regular business or institutional routine, admissible to prove conforming conduct on an occasion, with no need for corroboration or an eyewitness.
FRE 412 rape shield
In sexual misconduct cases, evidence of an alleged victim's other sexual behavior or sexual predisposition is generally excluded, with narrow exceptions and a pretrial motion procedure.
FRE 413-415 propensity rules
In sexual assault and child molestation cases, evidence of the defendant's other such offenses is admissible and may be considered on any relevant matter, including propensity.