ORDER AND OPINION

[Re: Motion at docket 104]

JOHN W. SEDWICK, Senior District Judge.

I. MOTIONS PRESENTED

At docket 104 Defendants ask the court to exclude evidence of Plaintiff's character to show that "he has no propensity for violent confrontations but that instead has a propensity to be "peace-loving." Plaintiff responds at docket 116. No reply was filed.

II. DISCUSSION

Defendants are correct that character evidence may not be introduced to prove that on any given occasion a person acted in accord with a trait of such person's character. Fed. R. Evid. 404 (a)(1). Plaintiff recognizes this and indicates that he will not seek to introduce evidence to show that he acted in accord with a character trait such as a peaceful nature. Plaintiff is correct that Defendants cast too broad a net by seeking to exclude virtually any evidence relating to the kind of person Plaintiff is. For example, evidence that Plaintiff is a veteran is admissible background information to allow the jury to obtain some idea of who Plaintiff is. Furthermore, additional information about the kind of person Plaintiff is would be relevant to and admissible for the purpose of calculating damages. Finally, if Defendants attack Plaintiff's character for truthfulness, then Plaintiff may offer opinion testimony so show he has a character for truthfulness. Fed. R. Evid. 608(b).

III. CONCLUSION

For the reasons above, the motion at docket 104 is DENIED without prejudice to a request for a limited purpose instruction to the jury with respect to evidence about Plaintiff offered for a proper purpose such as the calculation of damages or general background information about Plaintiff.