Government of the Virgin Islands v. Roldan
United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
612 F.2d 775 (3d Cir. 1979)
Relevant factsFree
At Roldan's (defendant) murder trial, his own counsel's cross-examination of a prosecution witness elicited testimony that Roldan was "a man that never bother anybody," implying he had no reason to kill; on redirect, the prosecution asked the witness about Roldan's prior first-degree murder conviction to rebut that implication, over Roldan's objection that this was impermissible character evidence. The district court allowed the question, and Roldan was convicted and appealed.
IssueFree
Whether the prosecution may introduce evidence of a criminal defendant's character trait if the defense puts the character trait at issue by introducing its own evidence on the trait.