California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Hall, 252 Cal.Rptr.3d 679, 39 Cal.App.5th 831 (Cal. App. 2019):
People v. Lamb (1999) 76 Cal.App.4th 664, 683, 90 Cal.Rptr.2d 565 ["Due process does not require that a criminal defendant be afforded the same evidentiary protections at sentencing proceedings as exist at trial"].)
On appeal, the test is whether the trial court abused its discretion in determining that the hearsay statements in the probation report are sufficiently reliable to be admissible. (See People v. Bryant , Smith & Wheeler (2014) 60 Cal.4th 335, 405, 178 Cal.Rptr.3d 185, 334 P.3d 573 ["We review the trial court's evidentiary rulings for abuse of discretion"]; United States v. Ngombwa (8th Cir. 2018) 893 F.3d 546, 557 " [W]hether hearsay evidence is sufficiently reliable to support a sentencing decision depends on the facts of the particular case, and is committed to the sound discretion of the district court "].)
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