A statement falls within the federal hearsay exception for statements against interest only if the statement at the time of its making so far contrary to the declarant's pecuniary or proprietary interest, or so far tended to subject the declarant to civil or criminal liability, or to render invalid a claim by the declarant against another, that a reasonable person in the declarant's position would not have made the statement unless believing it to be true.

Cf. United States v. Marrowbone, 211 F.3d 452, 454-455 (8th Cir. 2000) (holding that the trial court erroneously admitted the officer's testimony of the statements of the teenage victim as excited utterances because "based on the....A statement falls within the hearsay exception created by Federal Rule of Evidence 803(2) or a comparable State rule for excited utterances, only if the declarant (the maker of the statement) was under the stress of the startling event or condition when he or she made the statement that relates to that startling event or condition.

Fed. R. Evid. 413 ("In a criminal case in which the defendant is accused of an offense of sexual assault, evidence of the defendant's commission of another offense or offenses of sexual assault is admissible, and may be considered for its bearing on any matter to which it is relevant.").Federal Rule of Evidence 413 and comparable rules in a few States create an express exception to the prohibition against circumstantial use of character, the prohibition against the use of character to show conduct. Rules such as Rule 413 provide that in a criminal trial for sexual assault evidence of the defendant's commission of another offense or offenses of sexual assault is admissible.

Fed. R. Evid. 608(a) ("The credibility of a witness may be ... supported by evidence in the form of opinion or reputation, but subject to these limitations: (1) the evidence may....If one party uses reputation or opinion evidence to impeach a witness, an opposing party may use, respectively, either reputation evidence or opinion evidence about truthfulness to rehabilitate the witness.