Prohibited Uses of Character Evidence in a Criminal Case.

• A. Evidence of a person's character is admissible to prove conduct on a particular occasion.
• B. Evidence of a person's character is admissible to show propensity.
• C. Evidence of a person's character or character trait is not admissible to prove that on a particular occasion the person acted in accordance with the character or trait.
• D. Character evidence is always admissible if it supports the claim.

Answer: (C)

The key idea here is that you cannot use a person’s general character or a trait to prove that they acted in conformity with that trait on a specific occasion. That kind of reasoning is considered propensity evidence and is generally not admissible in a criminal case because it’s unfairly prejudicial and not reliable for proving a particular act.

The best answer states that evidence of a person’s character or character trait is not admissible to prove that on a particular occasion the person acted in accordance with that character or trait. That captures the rule against using characteristic evidence to infer a specific past action.

The other options run counter to this rule. One says character evidence is admissible to prove conduct on a particular occasion, which is exactly what the rule forbids. Another says character evidence can show propensity, which is the same prohibited idea. The last option claims character evidence is always admissible if it supports the claim, which ignores the clear limitations and exceptions that limit when character evidence may be used at all.