Character Witnesses

 

 

 

Main Element of Character Witnesses

provide knowledge about the defendant or victim

 

 

 

From wikipedia

Character witness/evidence is a term used in the law of evidence in the United States and Canada to describe any testimony or document submitted for the purpose of proving that a person acted in a particular way on a particular occasion based on the character or disposition of that person. There are three ways that such evidence might be presented in a court of law:

  1. Testimony as to prior bad acts by the individual

  2. Witness's own opinion as to the character of the individual

  3. Testimony as to the reputation of the individual.

Character witnesses usually work with the defense and tell us the good qualities of the defendant, but they can also be for the Prosecutors.  Character witnesses are valuable when the testimony is honest and is morality an issue in the case.

 

Types of Witness in the trial

eye-witness

expert witness

Character witnesses

 

Links

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Character_evidence

http://oasis.irlgov.ie/justice/witnesses/types_of_witnesses.html

http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/character+witness