Can disposition or propensity evidence be used to prove a defendant committed a sexual offence?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Benavidez, G043412 (Cal. App. 2011):

Evidence Code section 1101, subdivision (a), prohibits the use of disposition or propensity evidence to prove a defendant's conduct on a specific occasion. (People v. Falsetta (1999) 21 Cal.4th 903, 911.) However, Evidence Code section 1108, subdivision (a), states, "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] [s]ection 1101, if the evidence is not inadmissible pursuant to [Evidence Code] [s]ection 352." Evidence Code section 1108 authorizes a trial court to admit "bad conduct evidence . . . to prove 'predisposition' to commit sex crimes." (People v. Harris (1998) 60 Cal.App.4th 727, 730 (Harris)?) Two of those crimes are indecent exposure ( 314, subd. (1)), and lewd and lascivious acts on a minor ( 288, subd. (a)).

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