Transcription of 6. CHARACTER EVIDENCE
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6. CHARACTER EVIDENCE
6. CHARACTER EVIDENCE . A. Introduction 1. Rule 404 makes CHARACTER EVIDENCE inadmissible in most circumstances, but admissible under several exceptions. 2. Definition a) CHARACTER is not defined in Rule 404, so we rely on customary usage. b) The definition is tricky, because most people associate CHARACTER with moral qualities. That is part of the definition, but not the whole. CHARACTER also includes non-moral characteristics, behavioral tendencies, and patterns of life, which would include things having nothing to do with morality like carefulness, shyness or fondness for cats. While CHARACTER EVIDENCE often concerns a person's moral qualities, it is not limited to moral behavior. CHARACTER is a pattern of any kind of behavior, whether it involves an issue of morality or not. c) The definition is also tricky because you have to distinguish "fixed behavior from a "tendency" to behave in certain ways. Fixed patterns of behavior are called habits which fall under Rule 406 and are admissible.
C. Character Evidence in Criminal Cases 1. General rule. Character evidence is more frequently introduced in criminal cases than in civil. Although the same general presumption against the use of character evidence applies, defendants
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