What i mean to make clear, though, is that character evidence per seis not subject to any special treatment under the law. Bad character evidence royal commission into institutional. Other evidence of lying to police or courts conviction on a not guilty plea. A law professor at ucla law school, peter arenella was a legal consultant to abc news during the simpson trial. On crossexamination of the character witness, the court may allow an inquiry into relevant specific instances of the persons conduct. The view that bad character evidence could be prejudicial to the defend ant was also held by english criminal law this is in contrast to continental europe where the court is routinely informed about the previous convictions of the defendant, where the general rule was that. In the most frequently cited study on this topic, professor eugene kanin 1994 reported that. Core 4 investigations process of investigation investigative and evidential evaluation pdf not protectively marked if a victim or witness account cannot be independently corroborated, the prosecution or the defence may challenge the reliability of their evidence when it is presented in court. Murphy on evidence richard glover oxford university press.
Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Alternatively the questioning may be designed to attack the credit of the. The admissibility of hearsay and bad character is governed by the criminal justice act 2003 the cja 2003 reformed the law that regulated the admissibility of hearsay and bad character evidence in a criminal trial. The accused may offer evidence of a pertinent trait of character of the victim that is material to the crime. Most law enforcement agencies include an oral interview with candidates before final selection. The chief concerns with admitting bad character evidence, in particular similar fact evidence perhaps in the form of a criminal record, are that it is not actually relevant, that jurors may well subconsciously already assume the defendant has a bad character and so admitting such evidence will lead to double counting, that jurors misestimate. Character evidence plays an important role in almost all jurisdictions. Guidance on interviewing victims and witnesses, and guidance on using. As others have said it comes at the end of the interview because if its excluded it can bosh the rest of the tape. This means that it will be important that the police include such an attack in the record of taped interview.
For evidence to be acceptable it must meet all the criteria in this table. The principles in the follow ing cases are therefore applicable to both police and prosecutors, though many are concerned with actions taken by police officers. Bad character evidence bad character evidence bad character evidence 40% interview of persons under arrest interview of persons under arrest 20% recording of interviews by secure digital network recording of interviews by secure digital network 20% when a caution must be given when a caution must be given 20% the caution the caution. Its your chance to make a good impression, so make it count. Evidence of a persons character or a character trait is not admissible to prove that on a particular occasion the person acted in accordance with the character or trait. Like the name already hints, one cop pretends to be the bad guy, while the other is the good guy. Character evidence is evidence of a persons traits, propensities, and dispositions to behave in a particular way, which is not to be confused with habit. Evidence that qualifies under step 1 may not necessarily meet step 2. Ask a law librarian for help finding just the right source of information or learning how to use it. How to answer police officer oral board interview questions. Character evidence that victim was a good nephew and worked hard allowed where defendant offered evidence that victim was a gang member. A guide to interviewing and reference checking was written by douglas pine, ph. Bad character evidence the crown prosecution service. After the accused places the victims character in issue, the prosecutor may offer rebuttal evidence on that same trait.
Section 107 where evidence of the accuseds bad character has been admitted into the trial without the accuseds agreement, under section 1011 paragraphs cg, and the court is satisfied at any time after the close of the prosecutions case that i that evidence is contaminated such that ii a conviction would be unsafe, the. Investigative interviewing college of policing app. Once evidence has been admitted through one of the gateways, it can be used for any purpose for which it is. It is essentially a mechanism we can use to wind someone up to get them to cough up. Over the years the law has evolved and the applicability of character evidence to civil and criminal cases has become limited. Police interviewing and interrogation of juvenile suspects.
Evidence of a persons character is not admissible to prove that the person acted in conformity therewith on a particular occasion except. Evidence of bad character in criminal proceedings report pdf, 796 kb. Applicants will be given the opportunity to respond to information in a credit report. The interview later goes on to have a significant further. The criminal justice act 2003 do the bad character.
Judges presiding over rape trials will have to ensure that questions relating to the character of the victim are not allowed to be posed during the course of the trial. Solicitor, collette kelly, shearman bowen and company. In this interview, he disputes the prevailing opinion that the jurors race. Thus, the scheme provided for by the criminal evidence act 1898 compelled the accused to answer questions relating to his bad character in either of two situations. This report provides evidence from six court centres over eight months in 2006 on the use of applications to admit bad character evidence in criminal cases. The practice note also explains what is meant by bad character, what is excluded from the definition of bad character, the different cja 2003 gateways for admitting bad character evidence including the relevance of bad character to prove guilt or untruthfulness or propensity, bad character going to matter in issue between codefendants. The courts have been very reluctant to admit bad character evidence as a matter of. The bad character of nondefendants bloomsbury professional. Impeachment usually involves the use of otherwise inadmissible evidence the impeachment rules concern the use of otherwise inadmissible evidence, such as hearsay and acts of bad character, for the limited purpose of impeachment. Evidence of bad character practice and procedure it is clear that evidence of bad character will play a much greater role in investigations in the future and is likely to form an essential part of the evidence against a defendant as bad character is relevant to credit as well as to the issue of guilt. To assess the credibility of the evidence, it is helpful to have the knowledge of the past behaviour or character of the defendant. For example evidence that the defendant has a criminal record may be admissible solely to impeach.
Such evidence of good or bad character, is confined to evidence of general reputation. The question is whether this is admissible as it could considerably damage the defendants reputation and credibility if they considered to be of bad character. This guidance is for officers in criminal and financial investigation cfi teams and suitably trained and accredited criminal investigators within the home office. Character evidence this is a testimony or document that is used to help prove that someone acted in a particular way based on the persons character. Misconduct is defined as the commission of an offence or other reprehensible. Understanding and using character evidence in federal. Bad character is evidence of, or a disposition towards, misconduct on the part of the defendant, rather than evidence. There certainly is such a thing as character evidence i.
Special cases where bad character evidence is admissible in chief. It was originally part of the reid technique but is used as a standalone tactic these days. What this often means for a criminal defendant is that the prosecutor may not introduce evidence of bad acts you committed in the pastcriminal or otherwisein order. Rules regarding the admissibility of evidence in a criminal. Character evidence is a general category of evidence that relates to some character trait that is at issue during a criminal trial. Murphy on evidence is firmly established as a leading student text, framing the law of evidence in its practical context, suitable for undergraduates as well as those studying for professional law exams. Character evidence not admissible to prove that the. Bad character, tragic errors and deep ignorance legal. In any oral board, this will be one of the first questions that is asked. Admissibility and exclusion of evidence in criminal. More able to predict recurrence propensity in the case of more extreme crimes.
You must complete the pre interview disclosure on form mg6a, see. It is essentially a mechanism we can use to wind someone up to get them to cough up or tie themselves up in knots with false alibis etc. This does not include evidence about the actual offence charged or of any allegation of misconduct by policeprosecution during the investigation. Sometimes, all it takes is one tiny piece of evidence that would have been incredibly easy to overlook to nab the bad guy. The more realistic scenario, in which bad character evidence is only part of the evidence that leads to false conviction, is discussed below. Section 11 of code c of the police and criminal evidence pace codes of. You tube videos, photos, facebook, i messaging, text messages, chat logs and smart phone. The admissibility of evidence and the exclusionary rule prosecutors and defendants in criminal proceedings may present evidence in support of their cases. If a negative report is a factor in denying an applicant a job, the procedures required by the fair credit reporting act will be followed. Bad character evidence is evidence of, or a disposition towards misconduct.
Any military arrest or conviction according to the uniform code of military justice shall be considered in the same manner as a civilian arrest or conviction. Once evidence has been admitted through one of the gateways, it can be used for any purpose for which it is relevant. Is evidence of bad character admissible in criminal trials. At the risk of becoming annoyingly repetitive, let me speak even. It might be called the structured interview, oral board, chiefs interview or panel interview as it usually involves more than one interviewer. Bad character evidence and reprehensible behaviour abstract the criminal justice act 2003 ushered in a new system for determining the admissibility of bad character evidence in criminal proceedings. Evidence of bad character is evidence of, or a disposition towards, an offence this includes convictions and cautions or other misconduct for which the defendant has not been prosecuted, other than evidence relating to the offence in question. This is the third edition of j r spencers now well established book which seeks to explain this area of law for the benefit of judges, criminal practitioners and academics teaching the law of evidence. Psychological studies redmayne past misconduct is contextdependant. More tactical to be frank with the jury than p adduce evidence or ask questions about bad character under s 101 1 g. The state is not allowed, in the first instance, to offer evidence of the defendant. The state has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, while the defendant may present evidence to challenge the states case. Character evidence that defendant was a gang member allowed where defendant had put on character evidence of being a good marine.
The prosecutors crossexamination can be an effective. Unfortunately, this system is riddled with anomalies and plagued by obscurity. It is clear that evidence of bad character will play a much greater role in investigations in the future and is likely to form an essential part of the evidence against a defendant as bad character is relevant to credit as well as to the issue of guilt. Bluffton police department applicant disqualifiers 2 d. Bad character is evidence of, or a disposition towards, misconduct on the part of the defendant, rather than evidence relating to the facts in issue. The issue to be determined is whether the prosecution admits badcharacter evidence of dan d, aida a and brian b respectively and it is necessary to examine as to whether each piece of evidence is met with the definition of badcharacter evidence. As the defence had laid no basis for this line of questioning, the trial judge s. The evidence of bad character is an interesting area which have often been brought up by academician and judges like professor hoffman to its disputable and uncertainty of status, and so it have been describe as a law which is complex, unprincipled and riddled with anomalies by professor adrian keane. It is based on the police and criminal evidence act pace 1984 instructions for interviewing suspects. This provision was introduced as part of the criminal justice act 2003 and was designed to allow evidence of a defendants bad character to play a greater part in the prosecution of.
As to evidence of the character of the accused in criminal proceedings. The present study examines electronically recorded police interviews with juveniles to describe the characteristics, processes, and outcomes that occur in actual juvenile interrogations, including interview duration, individuals present, and confessions. Example of evidence offered to show action in conformity with characterevidence that someone is a drunk, or drank on a prior occasion, offered to prove that that same person drank on the day in question. Evidence as to the defendants previous convictions or bad character where he. The admissibility of bad character and hearsay evidence is outlined in the criminal justice act 2003. Is it ever reasonable to admit bad character evidence in. It abolished most of the old common law rules relating to the admissibility of such evidence although certain specific. The police oral board is a oneonone interview to see how you fit. The criminal justice act 2003 cja made fundamental changes to the admissibility of evidence relating to the defendants character and that of victims or witnesses. The evidence of a persons trait of character may be offered for non. Complete the boxes above and give the details required in the boxes below. Dpp v boardman where bad character evidence is the only evidence, its probative value is nil. Other bad acts evidence, inside the classroom with professor greg mitchell duration.
When evidence of a persons character or character trait is admissible, it may be proved by testimony about the persons reputation or by testimony in the form of an opinion. Crossexamination by the defense asks the jury to question what was done procedurally during the stop and arrest, to challenge the validity of scientific tests or to doubt the law enforcement officers competency or even integrity. For the police themselves, the formal interview is a key part of any investigation into a criminal offence. While this cant be used to prove that a persons behavior at a certain time was consistent with his or her character, it can be used in some workplace investigations to prove intent, motive. Npia in allowing the new zealand police to use this and all their other peace related material dr rebecca milne, for her time, expertise and advice that have contributed to the development of this guidance. Section 98 defines bad character as evidence of a persons disposition towards, misconduct. In general, under evidence code 1101, socalled character evidence is not admissible in a california criminal jury trial to show that a person acted in accordance with hisher character on a particular occasion.