Is evidence of crimes committed by a defendant other than those charged admissible?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from The People v. Rodriguez, D056481, No. RIF125410 (Cal. App. 2011):

Although "[e]vidence of crimes committed by a defendant other than those charged is inadmissible to prove criminal disposition or a poor character[,]... '... evidence of uncharged crimes is admissible to prove, among other things, the identity of the perpetrator of the charged crimes, the existence of a common design or plan, or the intent with which the perpetrator acted in the commission of the charged crimes. [Citation.] Evidence of uncharged crimes is admissible to prove identity, common design or plan, or intent only if the charged and uncharged crimes are sufficiently similar to support a rational inference of identity, common design or plan, or intent....' " (People v. Lenart (2004) 32 Cal.4th 1107, 1123 (Lenart).)

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