California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from The People v. Perla, B219063, No. BA343740 (Cal. App. 2010):
In determining whether the trial court abused its discretion in refusing to allow defense counsel to impeach A.C. and mother, we apply the well-established rules of relevance. Evidence Code section 352 provides: "The court in its discretion may exclude evidence if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the probability that its admission will (a) necessitate undue consumption of time or (b) create the substantial danger of undue prejudice, of confusing the issues, or of misleading the jury." "Only relevant evidence is admissible (Evid. Code, 350; [citations] and, except as otherwise provided by statute, all relevant evidence is admissible (Evid. Code, 351; see also Cal. Const., art. I, 28, subd. (d).) Relevant evidence, defined in Evidence Code section 210 as evidence '"having any tendency in reason to prove or disprove any disputed fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action, '" tends '"logically, naturally, and by reasonable inference" to establish material facts such as identity, intent, or motive. [Citations.]' [Citation.] The trial court has broad discretion in determining the relevance of evidence [citations], but lacks discretion to admit irrelevant evidence." (People v. Crittenden (1994) 9 Cal.4th 83, 132.)
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