<Li> Note that under CEC § 1102, a defendant may not only introduce evidence of "a trait of his character" that is relevant to the crime with which he or she is charged, but may also introduce character evidence "of the defendant's character" generally . </Li> <P> Character evidence is also admissible in a criminal trial if offered by a defendant as circumstantial evidence--through reputation or opinion evidence--to show an alleged victim's "pertinent" character trait--for example, to support defendant's claim of self - defense to a charge of homicide . </P> <P> After a criminal defendant introduces evidence of the victim's character, the prosecution may then introduce its own character evidence to rebut the defendant's character evidence by showing its side's impression of the victim's character, or to attack the character of the defendant through evidence that shows that defendant had the same character trait he or she accused the victim of having . </P> <Ul> <Li> Note that under CEC § 1103 (a), a defendant may not only introduce evidence of a victim's character or character trait through reputation or opinion evidence, as permitted under FRE 404, but also through evidence of specific acts . </Li> </Ul>

When can you attack the character of an accused