Can a jury use propensity evidence in a sexual assault case?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Moss, A146665 (Cal. App. 2019):

3. Under Evidence Code section 1108, in a criminal action in which the defendant is accused of a sexual offense, evidence of the defendant's commission of another sexual offense or offenses is not made inadmissible by Evidence Code section 1101 so long as the evidence is not inadmissible pursuant to Evidence Code section 352. (Evid. Code, 1108, subd. (a).) Further, in authorizing the jury's use of propensity evidence in sex offense cases, section 1108 "extends to evidence of both charged and uncharged sex offenses . . . ." (People v. Villatoro (2012) 54 Cal.4th 1152, 1162.) Evidence Code section 352, in turn, gives the trial court discretion to 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 substantial danger of undue prejudice, of confusing the issues, or of misleading the jury." (Evid. Code, 352.)

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