2016 South Dakota Codified Laws
Title 19 - EVIDENCE
Chapter 19 - South Dakota Rules of Evidence
§ 19-19-404 Character evidence--Crimes or other acts.
19-19-404. Character evidence--Crimes or other acts. (a) Character evidence.
(1) Prohibited uses. Evidence of a person's character or character trait is not admissible to prove that on a particular occasion the person acted in accordance with the character or trait.
(2) Exceptions for a defendant or victim in a criminal case. The following exceptions apply in a criminal case:
(A) A defendant may offer evidence of the defendant's pertinent trait, and if the evidence is admitted, the prosecutor may offer evidence to rebut it;
(B) Subject to the limitations in § 19-19-412, a defendant may offer evidence of an alleged victim's pertinent trait, and if the evidence is admitted, the prosecutor may:
(i) Offer evidence to rebut it; and
(ii) Offer evidence of the defendant's same trait; and
(C) In a homicide case, the prosecutor may offer evidence of the alleged victim's trait of peacefulness to rebut evidence that the victim was the first aggressor.
(3) Exceptions for a witness. Evidence of a witness's character may be admitted under §§ 19-19-607 to 19-19-609, inclusive.
(b) Crimes, wrongs, or other acts.
(1) Prohibited uses. Evidence of a crime, wrong, or other act is not admissible to prove a person's character in order to show that on a particular occasion the person acted in accordance with the character.
(2) Permitted uses; notice in a criminal case. This evidence may be admissible for another purpose, such as proving motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, absence of mistake, or lack of accident. On request by a defendant in a criminal case, the prosecutor must:
(A) Provide reasonable notice of the general nature of any such evidence that the prosecutor intends to offer at trial; and
(B) Do so before trial--or during trial if the court, for good cause, excuses lack of pretrial notice.
Source: SL 1979, ch 358 (Supreme Court Rule 78-2, Rule 404); SDCL §§ 19-12-4, 19-12-5; SL 2016, ch 239 (Supreme Court Rule 15-26), eff. Jan. 1, 2016.
Disclaimer: These codes may not be the most recent version. South Dakota may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
