California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Bautista, G050352 (Cal. App. 2016):
First, the trial court correctly ruled defendant's expressions of remorse during an interrogation that occurred nearly seven years after the shooting were not relevant to the issues in this case. To be admissible, proffered evidence must be relevant. (Evid. Code, 350.) The Evidence Code defines relevant evidence as "evidence, including evidence relevant to the credibility of a witness or hearsay declarant, having any tendency in reason to prove or disprove any disputed fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action." (Evid. Code, 210.) "A trial court has 'considerable discretion' in determining the relevance of evidence," and "[a]n appellate court reviews a court's rulings regarding relevancy . . . for abuse of discretion." (People v. Merriman (2014) 60 Cal.4th 1, 74.) Thus, "[w]e will not reverse a court's ruling on such matters unless it is shown '"the trial court exercised its discretion in an arbitrary, capricious, or patently absurd manner that resulted in a manifest miscarriage of justice."'" (Ibid.)
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