California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Garcia, H040040 (Cal. App. 2015):
"The decision to admit rebuttal evidence rests largely within the discretion of the trial court and will not be disturbed on appeal in the absence of demonstrated abuse of that discretion. [Citations.] . . . '[P]roper rebuttal evidence does not include a material part of the case in the prosecution's possession that tends to establish the defendant's commission of the crime. It is restricted to evidence made necessary by the defendant's case in the sense that he has introduced new evidence or made assertions that were not implicit in his denial of guilt.' Restrictions are imposed on rebuttal evidence (1) to ensure the presentation of evidence is orderly and avoids confusion of the jury; (2) to prevent the prosecution from unduly emphasizing the importance of certain evidence by introducing it at the end of the trial; and (3) to avoid 'unfair surprise' to the defendant
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from confrontation with crucial evidence late in the trial. [Citations.]" (People v. Young (2005) 34 Cal.4th 1149, 1199.)
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