Does section 1101 of the California Evidence Code prohibit the admission of character or propensity evidence in a criminal case?

Evidence Code section 1101 prohibits the admission of character or propensity evidence "when offered to prove his or her conduct on a specified occasion." (Evid. Code, 1101, subd. (a); hereinafter section 1101).) Section 1101, however, does not prohibit, "the admission of evidence that a person committed a crime . . . when relevant to prove some fact . . . other than his or her disposition to commit such an act." (Section 1101, subd. (b).) Even when evidence of a prior conviction, however, may be admitted under subdivision (b) of section 1101, admission of that evidence must still comport with other policies limiting the admission of evidence, such as those contained in Evidence Code section 352. (People v. Thompson (1988) 45 Cal.3d 86, 109.)

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