The Defendant may introduce character evidence for one or all of these areas through a witness. Relevant character evidence focuses on three (3) areas: (1) honesty (2) peacefulness (3) law abiding. Regardless of a person’s history most people have done at least a few good deeds in the course of their lives. We want people who know nothing about the defendant, the victim, the witnesses or anyone else involved in the case. This is the reason for juror questionnaires and the Voir Dire process prior to trial. If a juror were to hear something negative about a Defendant’s past, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to remove it from the juror’s mind even if the judge ordered that the jury not to consider it.
Being a character witness trial#
Judges want unbiased people sitting as jurors and the improper introduction of character evidence into a trial harms this concept. If the DA were to introduce it without either this foundation or some the appropriate pretrial motion (aka a “Prior Bad Acts” Motion under Rule 404(b) which we will discuss) it more than likely would cause a mistrial. In other words, if you or your attorney doesn’t bring it up, the district attorney can’t question you about it or even mention it during the trial.
The DefendantĪ defendant’s character is generally only admissible if the defendant or his attorney introduces into evidence. You are reading this book just to learn the basics and so I just want to present how character evidence pertains to the three most important people in a criminal trial: (1) YOU -The Defendant (2) The Victim/Complainant and (3) Witnesses.
Being a character witness professional#
I would question the professional competency of any “trial lawyer” who couldn’t at least explain the basics of character evidence to me. Law School Professors spend weeks on the topic and a firm understanding of character evidence is essential to the success of any attorney with a trial or an appellate practice. Next to hearsay, character evidence is one of the most difficult parts of that course. There is a 14 week law school courses on Evidence and it is generally considered a non-elective part of any legal education.
These exceptions form the foundation for pre-trial motions, objections, and appellate issues following a conviction. You will find, however, that the admissibility of evidence is not so much focused on the general rule but the exceptions to it. It is very important to understand that generally, evidence of a person’s character is inadmissible under either the Federal or the Pennsylvania Rules of Evidence. Clients, victims and even witnesses are often very concerned that something in their past will come up during the course of their criminal case.
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