Evidence Lecture: Relevance and Character Evidence

Practice flashcards covering the concepts of legal relevance, pragmatic and policy-based exclusions, and the rules of character evidence with Mississippi Distinctions.

Relevance (Probativeness)

The tendency of evidence to prove or disprove a material issue, making it more or less probably true than it would be without the evidence.

Federal Rule of Evidence $401$

Defines relevant evidence as having any tendency to make the existence of a fact of consequence more or less probable than without the evidence.

Materiality

A component of relevance requiring that the disputed fact be of consequence to the determination of the action.

Logical Relevance

The conceptual intersection of whether evidence is probative of a specific proposition and whether that proposition is a material issue in the case.

Federal Rule of Evidence $403$

Grants a trial judge discretion to exclude relevant evidence if its probative value is substantially outweighed by dangers like unfair prejudice, confusion, or undue delay.

Probative Value

The degree to which a piece of evidence actually helps to prove or disprove the proposition for which it is offered.

Similarity Requirement

A factor in determining the relevance of previous occurrences where the quality of the inference depends on how alike the prior event is to the one in issue.

Subsequent Remedial Measures

Under Rule $407$, evidence of repairs or precautionary measures made after an injury is inadmissible to prove negligence, culpable conduct, or product defects.

Liability Insurance

Under Rule $411$, evidence that a person was or was not insured is inadmissible to prove negligence or wrongful action.

Federal Rule of Evidence $408$

Prohibits the admission of settlement offers and negotiations to prove or disprove the validity or amount of a disputed claim.

Payment of Medical Expenses

Under Rule $409$, paying or offering to pay medical expenses is inadmissible to prove liability for an injury, though accompanying admissions of fact are admissible.

Nolo Contendere (No Contest)

A plea that, if effective or withdrawn, is inadmissible in any proceeding against the defendant who made it per Rule $410$.

United States v. Mezzanatto

A $513$ U.S. $196$ ($1995$) case ruling that Rule $410$ protections for plea negotiations may be waived if done so knowingly and voluntarily.

Habit

Under Rule $406$, a person's regular, specific response to a repeated set of circumstances, admissible to prove conduct in accordance with that response.

Character

A person's general disposition or traits (e.g., 'she's always in a hurry'), which is typically less specific than habit.

Business Routine

An established routine of a firm used as evidence to show that a particular event, such as the mailing of a letter, occurred.

Industrial Custom

Evidence of general usage in a business to establish a standard of care, though it is not conclusive of negligence.

Unfair Surprise

A basis for excluding evidence omitted from the Federal Rules but used in some state rules; Federal Rules suggest a continuance as a remedy instead.

Spoliation

The destruction of evidence, which may be proven by showing subsequent remedial measures like repainting a collided fender.

Federal Rule of Evidence $405$

Specifies the methods of proving character: reputation and opinion are standard, while specific acts are allowed only when character is an ultimate issue.

Character Directly in Issue

Occurs when proof of character is an essential element of a claim or defense, such as in defamation or negligent hiring cases.

Reputation Evidence

Witness testimony regarding what the community says about a person's character; a form of hearsay traditionally used to show character.

Opinion Testimony

Testimony from a witness who knows a person and provides their personal assessment of that person's character traits.

Accused's Right to Initiate

In criminal cases, the prosecution cannot initiate bad character evidence, but the defendant may introduce evidence of their good character to show innocence.

Cross-Examination of Character Witness

Under Rule $405(a)$, the prosecution may ask if a character witness 'has heard of' or 'knows of' specific instances of the defendant’s misconduct.

Federal Rule of Evidence $404(b)$

States that while other crimes/misconduct are inadmissible to show propensity, they are admissible to show motive, intent, plan, or identity.

Motive

The reason behind a person's actions; a non-propensity purpose for admitting evidence of prior crimes.

Modus Operandi (Signature)

Evidence of prior criminal acts so distinctive they identify the accused as the perpetrator of the act in question.

Absence of Mistake or Accident

A non-propensity use of prior misconduct evidence to negate a defense claim that an event was an accident.

Huddleston v. United States

A $485$ U.S. $681$ ($1988$) case establishing that uncharged misconduct only requires sufficient evidence for a jury finding to be admissible.

Notice Requirement (Rule $404(b)$)

In criminal cases, the prosecutor must provide reasonable written notice of the non-propensity purpose for using prior misconduct evidence before trial.

Rape Shield Law (Rule $412$)

Generally excludes evidence of an alleged victim's sexual behavior or sexual disposition in civil or criminal proceedings involving sexual misconduct.

Rule $412$ In Camera Hearing

A private judicial hearing required before admitting evidence under the sexual misconduct victim exceptions to afford a right to be heard.

Federal Rules $413$ - $415$

Specific rules allowing evidence of a defendant’s prior acts of sexual assault or child molestation to be admitted for any relevant purpose.

Mississippi Distinction (Victim Rebuttal)

In Mississippi, the prosecution may only rebut a victim's bad character with the victim's good character, not the defendant's bad character.

Mississippi Distinction (Peacefulness)

Mississippi allows the prosecution to introduce evidence of a victim's peacefulness to rebut evidence of aggression in any criminal case, not just homicide.

Mississippi Distinction (Notice)

The version of Rule $404(b)$ in Mississippi does not impose a notice requirement on the prosecutor.

Feasibility of Precautionary Measures

An exception letting subsequent remedial measures be admitted specifically to prove that safety improvements were possible if the point is disputed.

Common Scheme or Plan

A theory allowing prior similar false claims or acts to be admitted to prove the present claim or act is part of a larger, organized intent.

Pragmatic Relevance

A term for the discretionary exclusion of evidence under Rule $403$ based on trial management and policy concerns.