The following excerpt is from Wessels v. Gower, Civil No. 13cv0819 GPC (RBB) (S.D. Cal. 2013):
"state and federal rulemakers have broad latitude under the Constitution to establish rules excluding evidence from criminal trials," and that "[s]uch rules do not abridge an accused's right to present a defense so long as they are not 'arbitrary' or 'disproportionate to the purposes they are designed to serve.' United States v. Scheffer, 523 U.S. 303, 308 (1998) (citations and quotations omitted). The exclusion of defense evidence is "unconstitutionally arbitrary or disproportionate only where it has infringed upon a weighty interest of the accused." Id. (citations omitted).
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