Rule 31.6.Notice of Intention of Defense to Present Evidence of Acts of Violence by the Victim

Rule 31.6 governs a narrow but consequential piece of trial strategy: using the victim’s own history of violence to support a justification defense. The defense cannot raise it at trial without warning — it has to give notice first, filed in accordance with Rule 31.1’s deadlines.

That notice has to do real work. It must be in writing, served on the state’s counsel, and identify the act of violence, its date, its county, and the name, address, and phone number of the person connected to each specific act the defense wants to introduce. The judge then holds a hearing outside the jury’s presence to sort out which of those acts can come in, and the defense carries the burden of showing each one should be admitted. At trial, the defense is limited to only the specific acts the judge approved.

The state gets a matching opportunity. If it wants to rebut the defendant’s evidence of the victim’s violent acts, it has to give its own notice — naming its rebuttal witnesses and describing the evidence — filed within five days before trial, unless the judge shortens or lengthens that window.