California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from The People v. Chapman, A125590, No. CH43930 (Cal. App. 2010):
To determine whether to admit evidence of prior uncharged offenses, the trial court must consider various factors, including: (1) the similarity to the charged offense; (2) the likelihood of confusing, misleading, or distracting the jurors; (3) the remoteness of the uncharged offense; (4) its likely prejudicial impact on the jurors; (5) the burden "on the defendant in defending against the uncharged offense;" and (6) the availability of less prejudicial alternatives to admitting the evidence. (People v. Falsetta (1999) 21 Cal.4th 903, 917; People v. Ewoldt (1994) 7 Cal.4th 380, 404-405, superseded by statute on other grounds as stated in Britt, supra, 104 Cal.App.4th at p. 505.) We review a trial court's decision to admit prior uncharged acts of sexual and domestic violence for abuse of discretion. (Lewis, supra, 46 Cal.4th at p. 1286; People v. Jennings (2000) 81 Cal.App.4th 1301, 1314.)
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