What is the test for admitting or denying "prejudicial evidence" under section 352 of the California Domestic Violence Act?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Provencio, F069577 (Cal. App. 2016):

Where section 352 is concerned, "[t]he word 'prejudicial' is not synonymous with 'damaging.' [Citation.] Rather, evidence is unduly prejudicial under section 352 only if it ' " 'uniquely tends to evoke an emotional bias against the defendant as an individual and . . . has very little effect on the issues' " ' [citation], or if it invites the jury to prejudge ' " 'a person or cause on the basis of extraneous factors.' " ' [Citation.] 'Painting a person faithfully is not, of itself, unfair.' [Citation.]" (People v. Johnson, supra, 185 Cal.App.4th at p. 534.)

In the present case, "[t]he evidence was extremely probative, showing defendant's propensity for violence against [Stephanie]. The prior incident[] of domestic violence [was] not the sort to evoke an emotional bias against defendant. [Citation.]" (People v. Poplar, supra, 70 Cal.App.4th at p. 1139.) The trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the evidence of the 2011 incident.

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