Conn. R. Evid. 4-6
Evidence of the habit of a person or the routine practice of an organization is admissible to prove that the conduct of the person or the organization on a particular occasion was in conformity with the habit or routine practice.
Conn. Code. Evid. 4-6
COMMENTARY
While Section 4-4 generally precludes the use of evidence of a trait of character to prove conforming behavior, Section 4-6 admits evidence of a person's habit or an organization's routine practice to prove conformity therewith on a particular occasion. See, e.g., Birkhamshaw v. Socha, 156 Conn. App. 453, 471, 115 A.3d 1 (2015); Caslowitz v. Roosevelt Mills, Inc., 138 Conn. 121, 125-26, 82 A.2d 808 (1951); State v. Williams, 90 Conn. 126, 130, 96 A. 370 (1916); Moffitt v. Connecticut Co., 86 Conn. 527, 530-31, 86 A. 16 (1913); State v. Hubbard, 32 Conn. App. 178, 185, 628 A.2d 626, cert. denied, 228 Conn. 902, 634 A.2d 296 (1993). The distinction between habit or routine practice and "trait of character'' is, therefore, dispositive. See State v. Whitford, 260 Conn. 610, 641-42, 799 A.2d 1034 (2002) (victim's violent acts inadmissible as habit evidence to establish defendant's claim of self-defense in criminal assault case). "Our case law concerning this type of evidence, although sparse, suggests that habit is not relevant to prove willful or deliberate acts.'' Id., 642.
"Whereas a trait of character entails a generalized description of one's disposition as to a particular trait, such as honesty, peacefulness or carelessness, habit is a person's regular practice of responding to a particular kind of situation with a specific type of conduct. . . . ''(Citations omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) Birkhamshaw v. Socha, supra, 156 Conn. App. 472; see State v. Whitford, supra, 260 Conn. 641. "Habit and custom refer to a course of conduct that is fixed, invariable, and unthinking, and generally pertain to a very specific set of repetitive circumstances.'' (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Birkhamshaw v. Socha, supra, 472. "Testimony as to the habit or practice of doing a certain thing in a certain way is evidence of what actually occurred under similar circumstances or conditions. . . . Evidence of a regular practice permits an inference that the practice was followed on a given occasion.'' (Emphasis in original; internal quotation marks omitted). Id. Routine practice of an organization sometimes referred to as a business custom or customary practice is equivalent to a habit of an individual for purposes of the foregoing standards. See Maynard v. Sena, 158 Conn. App. 509, 518, 125 A.3d 541, cert. denied, 319 Conn. 910, 123 A.3d 436 (2015).