N.J.R.E. 404

As amended through December 28, 2023
Rule 404 - Character Evidence Not Admissible to Prove Conduct: Exceptions: Other Crimes Evidence
(a) Character Evidence. Evidence of a person’s character or character trait, including a trait of care or skill or lack thereof, is not admissible to prove that on a particular occasion the person acted in accordance with the character or trait except:
(1) Character of Defendant in a Criminal Proceeding. Evidence of a pertinent trait of the defendant’s character offered by the defendant or by the prosecution to rebut it. Evidence of a pertinent trait of the defendant’s character offered by the defendant shall not be excluded under Rule 403;
(2) Character of Victim. Evidence of a pertinent trait of character of the victim of the crime offered by a defendant in a criminal proceeding or by the prosecution to rebut it, or evidence of a character trait of peacefulness of the victim offered by the prosecution in a homicide case to rebut evidence that the victim was the first aggressor;
(3) Character of Witness. Evidence of the character of a witness as provided in Rule 608.
(b) Other Crimes, Wrongs, or Acts.
(1) Prohibited Uses. Except as otherwise provided by Rule 608(b), evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is not admissible to prove a person's disposition in order to show that on a particular occasion the person acted in conformity with such disposition.
(2) Permitted Uses. This evidence may be admitted for other purposes, such as proof of motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident when such matters are relevant to a material issue in dispute.
(3) Character and Character Trait in Issue. Evidence of a person's character or character trait is admissible when that character or trait is an element of a claim or defense.

N.J.R.E. 404

Adopted September 15, 1992 to be effective 7/1/1993; paragraphs (a) and (b) amended September 15,2004 to be effective 7/1/2005; paragraph (b) amended September 12, 2006 to be effective 7/1/2007: paragraphs (a) and (b) caption and text amended September 16, 2019, effective 7/1/2020.