The general rule is that evidence cannot be offered that defendant had been convicted of burglary or rape in order to show that the defendant had a propensity to commit these types of crime, i.e. if they did it once, they'd do it again.

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This statement is true because, in general, evidence of a person's character or character traits (including previous convictions) is not admissible to prove that on a particular occasion, the person acted in accordance with those character traits. This rule is designed to ensure that a defendant is judged based on the evidence related to the crime they are currently being charged with, not their past actions. However, there are exceptions to this rule under certain circumstances, such as when the evidence is offered for another purpose, like proving motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, absence of mistake, or lack of accident.

The General Rule Is That Evidence Cannot Be Offered That