California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Alvarezalvarez, G047701 (Cal. App. 2014):
Although "'[c]ross-examination to test the credibility of a prosecuting witness in a criminal case should be given wide latitude' [citation], such latitude does not 'prevent the trial court from imposing reasonable limits on defense counsel's inquiry based on concerns about harassment, confusion of the issues, or relevance' [citations]." (People v. Brown (2003) 31 Cal.4th 518, 545.) That is all that happened here. The visa was a tangential, collateral issue, and allowing evidence about it invited speculation about the legal status of both Teresa and, potentially, defendant, which was completely irrelevant to this case. The trial court was well within its discretion in excluding reference to the visa.
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