If BDLR made any claims surrounding TM's character, that should at minimum open the door for the defense to make some comments about his character in closing. It would have been better if they could introduce more evidence of his character, but any mothers on the juror should recognize that the father's calling Juvie looking for his kid means that he (the father) knows his kid was hardly "innocent".
I think calling him “an innocent teen ager” opens the door.
The defense should be allowed to rebut that.