Under Rule 608(a), on cross-examination, specific instances of a witness's conduct may be inquired into if they are probative of the truthfulness of which persons?

• A. The witness
• B. The witness or another witness whose character the witness testified about
• C. The court
• D. The jury

Answer: (B)

The key idea is that cross-examination may probe a witness’s truthfulness by asking about specific instances of conduct, but only for the witness themselves or for another witness whose character for truthfulness has been testified to by the witness on the stand. This limits questioning to people whose credibility has already been brought into the case by the examining witness.

That’s why the best answer is that the questioned acts may concern the witness or another witness whose character for truthfulness the witness has testified about. It aligns with Rule 608(a)’s allowance for probing truthfulness through specific conduct, on cross-exam, for those particular individuals. The court and the jury aren’t witnesses whose character for truthfulness is being examined, so they aren’t within this scope.