Defendant may offer evidence of victim's pertinent trait, if admitted, prosecutor may rebut.

• A. Defendant may offer evidence of victim's pertinent trait, if admitted, prosecutor may rebut.
• B. Prosecutor may offer trait about defendant.
• C. Witness's trait may be admitted without foundation.
• D. Character evidence of victim is never admissible.

Answer: (A)

The key idea is how character evidence is handled when the victim’s character is put at issue by the defense. If the defendant introduces evidence of a victim’s pertinent trait to support a theory about what happened, that option is allowed because the evidence is aimed at showing how the victim conducted themselves in this specific situation. Once such a trait has been admitted, the prosecutor is allowed to counter it with rebuttal evidence—showing the opposite trait or otherwise challenging the victim’s portrayal—to keep the trial fair and prevent a misleading picture. This approach balances allowing meaningful defense evidence with giving the prosecution a chance to respond.

The other choices don’t fit because they misstate who can introduce what or the basic rules about admissibility. It isn’t about the prosecutor introducing a trait about the defendant in this context, and a witness’s trait isn’t admissible without proper foundation and relevance. It’s also false to claim that victim’s character is never admissible; there are limited exceptions when the defendant properly raises a pertinent trait and the prosecution may rebut.