Also known as: instances · first instance
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A particular example or occurrence. When character evidence is admissible, specific instances may be used on cross-examination to test a character witness or, when character is an essential element, to prove the trait directly.
Igor Ito stands trial for assault. The defense offers a reputation witness who testifies that Ito is peaceful. On cross-examination the prosecutor asks whether the witness knows of the occasion last year when Ito struck a neighbor during a dispute over a fence.
Ismael Ibrahim purchases estate property from the personal representative of a decedent. Ibrahim pays value and has no actual knowledge of any defect in the representative's authority. The transaction stands even though the representative later exceeded the powers granted in the will, one of the instances the statute protects.
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Integrity Partners is held liable for an employee's tort under respondeat superior. After paying the judgment, Integrity Partners seeks indemnity from the employee whose direct negligence caused the harm. The claim rests on one of the instances in which indemnity is granted under the principle.
Iain Irons is sued for negligent entrustment of a vehicle. The plaintiff must prove that Irons knew the driver had a dangerous character. The plaintiff offers evidence of three prior occasions on which Irons lent the car to the same driver after learning of his reckless driving.
Isabella Ingram testifies for the prosecution. On cross-examination defense counsel asks whether she once submitted a false expense report at a prior job. The question is permitted because the incident is probative of her character for truthfulness.
Ian Iverson is charged with sexual assault. The defense offers evidence that the complainant had sexual relations with another man on the same night. The evidence is admitted to show that the other man, not Iverson, was the source of the physical injury.
Specific instances are admissible when character or a character trait is an essential element of a charge, claim, or defense. In all other situations the instances may be inquired into only on cross-examination of a character witness.
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No. Rule 608(b) bars extrinsic evidence of specific instances offered to prove a witness's character for truthfulness. The only permitted use is inquiry on cross-examination when the instance is probative of truthfulness.
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The statute extends protection to instances in which a good-faith purchaser deals with a personal representative for value even if procedural irregularities later appear.
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…the Fifth, Twelfth, and Twenty-second Amendments, as well as in §§ 2 and 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment. But in nearly all these instances, the use of the word is such that it has application only postnatally. None indicates, with any assurance, that it has any possible pre-natal application. All this, together with our…