Under 404(a)(2)(B) regarding a defendant's evidence of the victim's pertinent trait, what may the prosecutor do if the trait evidence is admitted?

• A. The prosecutor may offer evidence only to rebut the trait.
• B. The prosecutor may offer only evidence of the defendant's same trait.
• C. The prosecutor may offer both evidence to rebut the victim's trait and evidence of the defendant's same trait.
• D. The prosecutor may not introduce any more trait evidence.

Answer: (C)

When the defendant offers evidence about the victim’s pertinent trait, the rule allows the prosecutor to respond in two ways because the trait evidence opens the door to balancing the character pictures on both sides. First, the prosecutor may present evidence that the defendant shares the same trait, which serves to rebut the claim that the victim alone exhibited that trait and helps show the trait isn’t unique to the victim. Second, the prosecutor may introduce evidence related to the defendant’s own character trait that bears on the same issue. In short, the government can both rebut the victim’s trait by showing the defendant has that trait as well and present its own trait evidence about the defendant, ensuring a fuller, fairer context for evaluating the self‑defense claim.