Chapter 4 - §5. Character evidence offered to prove ultimate fact in dispute

• Jurisdiction: United States

§5. Character evidence offered to prove ultimate fact in dispute

Character evidence can be presented to establish a character trait if that trait is an ultimate fact in dispute. See 7 Cal. Law Revision Comm'n Rep. (1965) p. 1204; cf. Carr v. Pacific Telephone Co. (4th Dist.1972) 26 Cal.App.3d 537, 544 (discussing applicability in civil case). This situation is rarely encountered because there are very few contemporary crimes in which a person's character trait is directly in issue. See, e.g., People v. Wade (1897) 118 Cal. 672, 673-74 (D charged with formerly recognized crime of seducing previously "chaste" unmarried woman under promise of marriage); People v....