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Evid 3

Dovie's testimony regarding Dave's previous homicide conviction is not admissible to challenge Dave's character. According to court rules, character evidence must be limited to traits relevant to the charged offense. Here, a past conviction for homicide does not relate to Dave's character for sexual assault. Dovie's testimony is therefore inadmissible as it is not pertinent to the charged offense.

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Carmela Lopez
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526 views

Evid 3

Dovie's testimony regarding Dave's previous homicide conviction is not admissible to challenge Dave's character. According to court rules, character evidence must be limited to traits relevant to the charged offense. Here, a past conviction for homicide does not relate to Dave's character for sexual assault. Dovie's testimony is therefore inadmissible as it is not pertinent to the charged offense.

Uploaded by

Carmela Lopez
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Dave is on trial for sexual assault of Delly, a law student who sidelines as a call

center agent. Dave offers the testimony of Danny, who says that Dave is known in
the community as a decent and discerning person. The prosecution presents a
rebuttal witness, Dovie, who testifies that, if Dave was reputed to be a good
person, that reputation was a misperception because Dave had been previously
convicted of homicide. Is Dovie's testimony admissible as to the character of
Dave?

No, Dovie's testimony is not admissible as to the character of Dave.


Section 54 (a), Rule 130 of the Rules of Court provides that: Evidence of a person’s
character or a trait of character is not admissible for the purpose of proving action in
conformity therewith on a particular occasion, except:

a) In Criminal Cases:
(1) The character of the offended party may be proved if it tends to establish in any
reasonable degree the probability or improbability of the offense charged.
(2) The accused may prove his or her good moral character, pertinent to the moral
trait involved in the offense charged. However, the prosecution may not prove his
or her bad moral character unless on rebuttal.

This means that the character evidence that must be introduced should be limited to the
trait or character involved in the type of offense charged.

In this case, Dovie's claim on Dave's conviction for homicide is irrelevant in refuting the his
character since conviction for homicide as evidence of bad moral character is not germane
to the charge of sexual assault. Therefore, Dovie's testimony is not admissible in evidence
since it is not pertinent to the offense charged.

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