Michelson v. United States

Mr. Justice Rutledge, with whom Mr. Justice Murphy joins,

dissenting.

The Court’s opinion candidly and interestingly points out the anomalous features characterizing the exclusion and admission of so-called character evidence in criminal cases. It also for the first time puts the stamp of the Court’s approval upon the most anomalous and, what is more important, the most unfair stage in this evi-dentiary sequence.

There are three stages. The first denies the prosecution the right to attack the defendant’s reputation as part of its case in chief, either by proof of bad general reputation or by…