California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Gambina, G044728 (Cal. App. 2012):
The enactment of "section[] . . . 1109 dramatically revised the law of evidence in . . . domestic violence cases by making prior offenses admissible to prove the defendant's propensity to commit a charged offense." (People v. James (2000) 81 Cal.App.4th 1343, 1346.) Thus, when a defendant is charged with "an offense involving domestic violence," evidence of past domestic violence is admissible to establish the defendant's propensity to commit the charged offense. ( 1109, subd. (a)(1).)
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