INTRODUCTION
When a person is accused of a crime, evidence of their character can be useful in dealing with their matters before the Court. This character evidence speaks to an Accused person’s conduct or reputation before or after he was charged with the alleged offence for which he is before the Court. In law, a person can be of good character, bad character, or no character evidence may be raised on behalf of the Accused. For your general knowledge, this article focuses on good character.
WHO IS A PERSON OF GOOD CHARACTER?
A person of good character can be described as an Accused person with no previous convictions or other bad conduct alleged, admitted or proven against them. For example, where an Accused person does not have any previous convictions but, at trial, admits to previously using an illegal firearm despite never being charged, that person cannot be considered a person of good character because of their previously unacceptable and criminal behaviour.
As such, if an Accused person is on trial, they can try to use their good character to show that they are less likely to have committed the offence before the Court because they never committed an offence before and that they are more likely to be telling the truth when they say that they did not commit the offence before the Court.
TYPES OF GOOD CHARACTER
1) Absolute Good Character
Where an Accused person does not have any previous convictions or any bad conduct alleged, admitted or proven against them.
2) Effective Good Character
Where an Accused person has old, minor and irrelevant previous convictions to the charge(s) in the trial. In this category, the Judge must decide whether to treat the Accused person as a person of good character. However, just because an Accused person’s previous convictions may be old and irrelevant to the charges in the trial, it does not mean that the Judge has to treat them as a person of good character.
Depending on the type of good character raised by the Defence, the Judge will have to adjust or modify what they tell the jury about how an Accused person’s good character can be used in deciding whether the Accused person is guilty or not guilty of the charge(s).
HOW IS GOOD CHARACTER RAISED?
At trial, the good character of an Accused person must be raised by the Defence, otherwise, it cannot be used. This evidence can be raised by:
- The questioning of the State’s witnesses, such as the Police Officer who charged the Accused person;
- An agreement between the State and the Defence which is put before the Court; or
- The Accused person giving evidence of his character.
Notably, an Accused person can bring witnesses to their trial, such as friends and family, to speak about their character and give their observations of the Accused person that are relevant to the charge(s) at the trial. These persons are known as character witnesses. For example, an Accused person who is charged with assaulting a stranger in the streets of Port of Spain can bring character witnesses to the trial who will give evidence about whether they ever saw the Accused person being aggressive towards anyone, especially persons they did not know.
GOOD CHARACTER EVIDENCE AT TRIAL
During a criminal trial, if an Accused person is of good character and gives evidence at their trial or if they gave an oral or written statement to the Police during the investigation of the offence, the Judge should tell the jury that the Accused person’s good character would be important in deciding whether they believe their evidence.
Even if the Accused person does not give evidence at their trial or if they did not give the Police a written or oral statement during the investigation of the offence, the Judge should tell the jury that their good character means that they would be less likely to have committed the offence.
In a trial with multiple Accused persons, if Accused person ‘A’ has good character, then the Judge should tell the jury about the good character evidence of Accused person ‘A’, even if Accused person ‘B’ has bad character.
Where an Accused person raises their good character as evidence in the trial, it cannot be used as a defence to the charge, or to say that they are believable or that they did not commit the offence.
GOOD CHARACTER EVIDENCE IN SENTENCING
When an Accused person is being sentenced after pleading guilty to an offence or after going to trial and being convicted of an offence, the Judge can consider the Accused person’s good character in reducing their sentence.
At the sentencing, an Accused person can also provide testimonials containing information about their character written by family, friends, former employers, past teachers and other persons in their community, which can be submitted to the Judge who may use these testimonials in reducing their sentence.
CONCLUSION
In the courtroom, character matters. While good character evidence is not a magic bullet, when used properly, it can strengthen an Accused person’s case by supporting their credibility, showing that they are less likely to commit a crime and may deserve a lighter sentence. The use of good character evidence not only benefits the Accused person on trial and in sentencing but also ensures fairness and integrity in the justice system.
Submitted by:
Michael Modeste and Ayanna Norville-Modeste
Public Defenders I
Public Defenders’ Department
Legal Aid and Advisory Authority,
23 Stanmore Avenue, Port of Spain.
Contact: 638-5222
Email:
Website: laaa.org.tt
