CALIFORNIA FOURTH DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL MAKES BIZARRE RULING ON USE OF PRIOR ACTS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Here is a close runner up as "Outrage of the Week." The Courts seem to be getting more and more bold in violating the rules of evidence and defendants' Constitutional rights.
The DA got to present prior domestic violence evidence under California Evidence Code sec. 1109 on count one. The Court of Appeal struggles to justify this, because the count doesn't really charge a domestic violence offense. So they say is sort of does. Huh?
That's bad enough. But then they say that the prior domestic violence evidence comes in on count two, which is clearly not a domestic violence charge, because 1109 uses the word "action," meaning, get this, that if 1109 evidence comes in on one count, it comes in on EVERY OTHER COUNT in the "action" to prove guilt. So if the DA can smuggle a sex offense (Evidence Code sec. 1108) or a domestic violence offense into the information, they get to
use prior sex offenses or domestic violence offenses to prove guilt on, say the murder or robbery.
Objection! Relevance? Overruled on the grounds that we must make the prosecutor win!
People v. Dallas; 2008 DJ DAR 12225; DJ, 8/6/08; C/A 4th
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