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23. The court should
At a defendant's murder trial, the defendant calls his first witness to testify that the defendant has a reputation in their community as a peaceable and truthful person. The prosecutor objects on the ground that the witness's testimony would constitute improper character evidence.
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Federal Rule of Evidence (FRE) 404(a)(2)(A) lists an exception to the rules governing character in criminal cases, specifically that «a defendant may offer evidence of the defendant's pertinent trait, and if the evidence is admitted, the prosecutor may offer evidence to rebut it. .. .»
A defendant puts her character in issue by calling a qualified witness to testify to the defendant's good reputation (or that he has heard nothing bad) for the trait involved in the case. The defendant's character for peacefulness may be at issue if he is accused of violence, however, if his character for truthfulness is not relevant to the issue of guilt or innocence, it will not be admissible. Under FRE 405, the witness may also give his personal opinion concerning that trait of the defendant. However, the witness may not testify to specific acts of conduct of the defendant to prove the trait at issue.
A is correct. The court should admit the testimony as to peaceableness but not as to truthfulness because the former is evidence of a pertinent trait in the case, while the latter is not. Although evidence of a person's character is not admissible for the purpose of proving action in conformity therewith, an exception allows the accused to offer evidence of a trait of character that is pertinent to the trial. In a murder case, the accused's reputation in the community as a peaceful person is a pertinent trait and admissible. However, the accused's reputation in the community as a truthful person is not pertinent to a murder charge. The defendant has also not testified, which means his truthfulness is not at issue. Therefore, evidence as to his truthfulness is inadmissible.
B is incorrect. On the contrary, the testimony as to the defendant's truthfulness should be excluded as impertinent, whereas the testimony as to peaceableness should be admitted because it is relevant in a murder case to establish his reputation as a peaceful person in the community.
C is incorrect. This answer is only partially correct. It is true that the testimony as to the defendant's reputation for peaceableness is admissible regarding the murder charge, but the testimony regarding the defendant's reputation for truthfulness is irrelevant, as explained above, and should be excluded.
D is incorrect. This answer is also only partially correct. It is true that the evidence of the defendant's reputation for truthfulness should be excluded, but the reputation evidence of peaceableness should be admitted because it is relevant to the murder charge.