Questions

1. What is the difference between direct and circumstantial evidence?

2. When and how does the trial judge determine the relevance of circumstantial evidence?

3. Why does the law generally prohibit evidence of the defendant’s character?

4. What are the principal noncharacter uses of “other crimes” evidence?

5. What is the difference between motive and intent?

6. How might the prosecution use “other crimes” evidence to prove a defendant had a design plan?

7. How might the prosecution use another act of the defendant to refute a claim of a mistake or accident? 

8. What does the term modus operandi mean in the context of the “other acts” evidence rule.

9. Under what circumstances may the prosecution prove the defendant’s bad character if the defendant has not taken the stand?

10. What are the laws shielding victims of sex offenses? 

11. What are the ways opposing counsel might attack a witness’s character?

12. Describe the special balancing test used in evaluating the admissibility of prior unchanged felony convictions of a defendant who takes the stand?