How would the members of this panel make the same call themselves if they had been in the position of the trial judge?

While the members of this panel might not have made the same call ourselves if we had been the position of the trial judge, tested under the abuse of discretion standard inherent within Evidence Code section 352, we cannot say the trial court's decision not to strike the prior conviction evidence was an abuse of discretion. (See Lincoln v. Schurgin (1995) 39 Cal.App.4th 100, 105-106 ["Whether we would have made the same determination in the first instance is immaterial. As long as the contested decision is supported by reasonable inferences, we have no authority to substitute our judgment for that of the trial court."].)

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