What is the test for the exclusion of evidence in a criminal trial?

Rules excluding evidence from criminal trials "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, 118 S.Ct. 1261, 140 L.Ed.2d 413 [1998] [internal quotation marks omitted] ). "[T]he exclusion of evidence [is] unconstitutionally arbitrary or disproportionate" when it "infringe[s] upon a weighty interest of the accused" ( id. ). Accordingly, application of this hearsay rule so stringently as to deny a defendant's right to present a

[106 N.E.3d 1160]

[81 N.Y.S.3d 800]