What is the test for attacking the credibility of a witness in a criminal case?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Navarez, 169 Cal.App.3d 936, 215 Cal.Rptr. 519 (Cal. App. 1985):

Evidence Code section 788 provides in relevant part that "... for the purpose of attacking the credibility of a witness, it may be shown by the examination of the witness or by the record of the judgment that he has been convicted of a felony...." This authorization of judicial discretion is tempered by Evidence Code section 352 which permits the trial judge to exclude otherwise admissible evidence "if its probative value is substantially[169 Cal.App.3d 948] outweighed by the probability that its admission will ... create substantial danger of undue prejudice...." (People v. Barrick (1982) 33 Cal.3d 115, 122, 187 Cal.Rptr. 716, 654 P.2d 1243.)

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