True to Character: Honoring the Intellectual Foundations of the Character Evidence Rule in Domestic Violence Prosecutions

Authors

Andrew King-Ries, Alexander Blewett III School of Law at the University of MontanaFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2004

First Page

313

Volume

23

Source Publication Abbreviation

St. Louis U. Pub. L. Rev.

Abstract

This article calls for a new character evidence rule allowing the admission of prior acts of abuse within the context of a current domestic violence prosecution. Section II discusses the history of domestic violence in America and explores the three ways that the law has condoned domestic violence, including implicit sanction through the effect of the character evidence rule. Section III examines the intellectual background of the character evidence ban. This section also explores the conflict between the character evidence rule and the law's recognition of domestic violence. Further, Section III demonstrates how the character evidence ban violates its underlying principles in the domestic violence context. Finally, Section III articulates rationale for a new character evidence rule in the domestic violence context -- a rule consistent with the rule's original intellectual underpinnings.

Comments

Reprinted with permission of the Saint Louis University Public Law Review ©2004 St. Louis University School of Law, St. Louis, Missouri.

Recommended Citation

King-Ries, Andrew, "True to Character: Honoring the Intellectual Foundations of the Character Evidence Rule in Domestic Violence Prosecutions" (2004). Faculty Law Review Articles. 49.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/faculty_lawreviews/49