MBE Trap: MIMIC

You’ll often be presented on MBE questions with facts indicating that improper character evidence has been offered. And that’ll be a choice in the answers: inadmissible character evidence, inadmissible propensity evidence, or something of the sort.

But before choosing that answer, make sure it’s not a trap. Just because a certain type of evidence cannot be offered for one purpose doesn’t mean it cannot be offered for another purpose. That’s an important theme throughout all of Evidence law: determining what evidence is offered is far less helpful than determining why the evidence is offered. There are five often tested non-character purposes for offering what might at first seem to be inadmissible character evidence: ~Motive ~Intent ~Mistake (it’s actually “absence of mistake,” but that would mess up the MIMIC thing). ~Identity ~Common Plan or Scheme These aren’t the only admissible purposes, though. Evidence won't be inadmissible for character purposes unless offered to prove a general character or propensity to commit the charged crime. If offered for another purpose it's admissible, unless inadmissible for another reason.