Rule 11-608 A witness’s character for truthfulness or untruthfulness.

When someone testifies in court, other people can talk about whether that witness is generally honest or dishonest. This can come through reputation testimony (what people in the community say about the witness) or through someone's personal opinion about the witness's honesty. However, you can only bring up evidence that a witness is truthful after someone else has already attacked that witness's honesty. In other words, you can't praise a witness's honesty unless someone first questioned it.

The rule also limits how specific examples of past behavior can be used. Lawyers generally cannot bring in outside evidence, like documents or other witnesses, to prove specific incidents showing a witness lied or told the truth in the past. The main exception is a past criminal conviction, which has its own separate rule. During cross-examination, though, a lawyer can ask a witness directly about specific past incidents if those incidents relate to that witness's honesty, or to the honesty of another witness they testified about.

Finally, the rule protects witnesses from losing their legal rights just because they answered questions about honesty. If a witness talks about their character for truthfulness, they don't automatically give up their right to avoid self-incrimination on other topics. This keeps witnesses from being forced to reveal information that could hurt them legally, simply because they discussed their reputation for honesty.