Is poverty or indebtedness inadmissible to establish a motive to commit robbery or theft?
California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Harvey, F052742 (Cal. App. 10/3/2008), F052742 (Cal. App. 2008):
"Generally, evidence of a defendant's poverty or indebtedness is inadmissible to establish a motive to commit robbery or theft, `because reliance on poverty alone as evidence of motive is deemed unfair to the defendant, and the probative value of such evidence is considered outweighed by the risk of prejudice.' [Citation.]" (People v. McDermott (2002) 28 Cal.4th 946, 999.)
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