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.

Leavitt v. Arave, 371 F.3d 663, 683 (9th Cir. 2004) (upholding trial court's admission of victim's testimony as an excited utterance because (1) "the victim was speaking while under the baleful influence of an....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. 405(a) & (b) ("(a) Reputation or opinion. In all cases in which evidence of character or a trait of character of a person is admissible, proof may be made by testimony as to reputation or by testimony in the form of an opinion. On cross-examination, inquiry is allowable into relevant specific instances of conduct. (b)...When an exception to the character evidence prohibition makes evidence of a criminal defedant's character admissible, the testimony of a witness on direct examination about the defendant's character must take the form of reputation or opinion and it cannot consist of specific instances of the defendant's conduct.

United States v. One Chevrolet Stylemaster Sedan, 91 F. Supp. 272, 275 (D. Colo. 1950) (holding that claimant's plea of nolo contendere was not admissible in the present case because "it [was] a confession only for the purpose of the....Federal Rule of Evidence 410 or a comparable State rule bars the use of a nolo contendere plea (no contest plea) as evidence in any proceeding against the defendant who entered this plea.