California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Murray, B237677 (Cal. App. 2014):
Evidence Code section 352 provides: "the court in its discretion may exclude evidence if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the probability that its admission will (a) necessitate undue consumption of time or (b) create as substantial danger of undue prejudice, of confusing the issues, or of misleading the jury." (Evid. Code, 352.) Evidence Code section 352 justifies the exclusion of evidence that would prolong the trial and distract the jury from the task of deciding the defendant's guilt. (See People v. Fuiava (2012) 53 Cal.4th 622, 664-665 [holding that the trial court properly excluded evidence relating to misconduct and civil rights lawsuits against the defendant's colleagues because the minimal relevance of that evidence was substantially outweighed by the risk of jury confusion and undue consumption of time]; People v. Dement (2012) 53 Cal.4th 1, 51 [finding no abuse of discretion under Evidence Code section 352 where the trial court excluded as unduly time consuming evidence of defendant's cellmate's
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statements made 20 years before the crime, which were offered to impeach the cellmate's testimony].)
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