Boyette v. State

As a rule, when a defendant’s general character is put in issue, the evidence should be confined to the time of and anterior to the alleged commission of the offense to which he was being tried. White v. State, 111 Ala. 92, 21 So. 33. When, however, character evidence is offered to discredit a witness who has testified, it can include all time anterior to the time said witness testifies. The defendant did not put his general character in issue, and the state had no right to do so except so far as it may have affected his credibility as a witness, and the trial court erred in not limiting the…