Copyright © 2010

Thomson Reuters

Chapter 4

RELEVANCE: DEFINITION AND LIMITATIONS

Table of Sections

Sec.

4.00 Relevance in General.

4.01 Character Evidence in General.

4.02 New Exceptions to the Ban on the Use of Character Evidence.

4.03 Habit and Custom.

4.04 Subsequent Remedial Measures.

4.05 Compromise.

4.06 Humanitarian Gestures.

4.07 Pleas and Related Statements.

4.08 Liability Insurance.

4.09 Other Limitations on Relevant Evidence.

4.10 Major Differences Between the Federal Rules and the Evidence Code.

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§ 4.00 Relevance in General

FEDERAL RULES OF EVIDENCE

Rule 401. Test for Relevant Evidence

Evidence is relevant if:

(a) it has any tendency to make a fact more or less probable than it would be without the evidence; and

(b) the fact is of consequence in determining the action.

Rule 402. General Admissibility of Relevant Evidence

Relevant evidence is admissible unless any of the following provides otherwise:

• the United States Constitution;

• a federal statute;

• these rules; or

• other rules prescribed by the Supreme Court.

Irrelevant evidence is not admissible.

Rule 403. Excluding Relevant Evidence for Prejudice, Confusion, Waste of Time, or Other Reasons

The court may exclude relevant evidence if its probative value is substantially outweighed by a danger of one or more of the following: unfair prejudice, confusing the issues, misleading the jury, undue delay, wasting time, or needlessly presenting cumulative evidence.

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CALIFORNIA EVIDENCE CODE

§ 210. Relevant evidence

"Relevant evidence" means evidence, including evidence relevant to the credibility of a witness or hearsay declarant, having any tendency in reason to prove or disprove any disputed fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action.

§ 350. Only relevant evidence admissible

No evidence is admissible except relevant evidence.

§ 351. Admissibility of relevant evidence

Except as otherwise provided by statute, all relevant evidence is admissible.

§ 352. Discretion of court to exclude evidence

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 substantial danger of undue prejudice, of confusing the issues, or of misleading the jury.

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Comparative Note. These Rules and Code Sections set out the fundamental condition that all evidence must satisfy if it is to be admitted: no evidence is admissible unless it is relevant. The provisions then postulate the basic rule of admissibility: unless otherwise provided, all relevant evidence is admissible. Most of the Rules and Code Sections that follow impose some kind of limitation on the use of relevant evidence.

There is no substantive difference between the Federal and California definitions of relevant evidence. Rule 401, unlike California Evidence Code § 210, does not expressly refer to the credibility of witnesses, but the omission is immaterial. Since the fact-finders will ultimately determine which witnesses to believe or disbelieve, evidence bearing on the credibility of witnesses is obviously of consequence to the determination of the action being tried.

Rule 401 makes clearer than § 210 the burden the proponent must discharge when confronted by an irrelevance objection. The proponent need only convince the judge that the proffered evidence makes the existence of any consequential fact more or less probable than the fact would be without the evidence. Though the language of Rule 401 is superior in this respect, both provisions impose the same burden on the proponent of the evidence.

Neither the Code nor the Rules establishes a preference between direct and circumstantial evidence. Section 410 of the Code defines direct evidence as "evidence that directly proves a fact, without an inference or presumption, and which in itself, if true, conclusively establishes that fact." This section, however, does not favor direct evidence over circumstantial evidence. There is no analogous Federal Rule. From a relevance perspective, the distinction between direct and circumstantial evidence is without significance. Either can satisfy the tests of materiality and probative value, and both are generally acceptable means of proof in civil and criminal matters.

Rule 403 and § 352 embody the principle that a judge may exclude otherwise admissible evidence if its probative value on contested issues is substantially outweighed by enumerated concerns. These include the dangers that the evidence might prejudice a party unduly, confuse the issues to be decided, mislead the jury, or consume too much time. A key feature is that the rule does not come into play at all if another rule excludes the evidence. Only if the evidence is otherwise admissible may the judge's discretion be invoked as a last resort by the objecting party.

There is no substantive difference between Rule 403 and § 352. Both emphasize that judges should not use their discretion to exclude relevant evidence unless its probative value is substantially outweighed by a countervailing factor.

§ 4.01 Character Evidence in General

FEDERAL RULES OF EVIDENCE

Rule 404. Character Evidence; Crimes or Other Acts

(a) Character Evidence.

(1) Prohibited Uses. Evidence of a person's character or character trait is not admissible to prove that on a particular occasion the person acted in accordance with the character or trait.

(2) Exceptions for a Defendant or Victim in a Criminal Case.

The following exceptions apply in a criminal case:

(A) a defendant may offer evidence of the defendant's pertinent trait, and if the evidence is admitted, the prosecutor may offer evidence to rebut it;

(B) subject to the limitations in Rule 412, a defendant may offer evidence of an alleged victim's pertinent trait, and if the evidence is admitted, the prosecutor may:

(i) offer evidence to rebut it; and

(ii) offer evidence of the defendant's same trait; and

(C) in a homicide case, the prosecutor may offer evidence of the alleged victim's trait of peacefulness to rebut evidence that the victim was the first aggressor.

(3) Exceptions for a Witness. Evidence of a witness's character may be admitted under Rules 607, 608, and 609.

(b) Crimes, Wrongs, or Other Acts.

(1) Prohibited Uses. Evidence of a crime, wrong, or other act is not admissible to prove a person's character in order to show that on a particular occasion the person acted in accordance with the character.

(2) Permitted Uses; Notice in a Criminal Case. This evidence may be admissible for another purpose, such as proving motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, absence of mistake, or lack of accident. On request by a defendant in a criminal case, the prosecutor must:

(A) provide reasonable notice of the general nature of any such evidence that the prosecutor intends to offer at trial; and

(B) do so before trial — or during trial if the court, for good cause, excuses lack of pretrial notice.

Rule 405. Methods of Proving Character

(a) By Reputation or Opinion. When evidence of a person's character or character trait is admissible, it may be proved by testimony about the person's reputation or by testimony in the form of an opinion. On cross-examination of the character witness, the court may allow an inquiry into relevant specific instances of the person's conduct.

(b) By Specific Instances of Conduct. When a person's character or character trait is an essential element of a charge, claim, or defense, the character or trait may also be proved by relevant specific instances of the person's conduct.

Rule 412. Sex-Offense Cases: The Victim's Sexual Behavior or Predisposition

(a) Prohibited Uses. The following evidence is not admissible in a civil or criminal proceeding involving alleged sexual misconduct:

(1) evidence offered to prove that a victim engaged in other sexual behavior; or

(2) evidence offered to prove a victim's sexual predisposition.

(b) Exceptions.

(1) Criminal Cases. The court may admit the following evidence in a criminal case:

(A) evidence of specific instances of a victim's sexual behavior, if offered to prove that someone other than the defendant was the source of semen, injury, or other physical evidence;

(B) evidence of specific instances of a victim's sexual behavior with respect to the person accused of the sexual misconduct, if offered by the defendant to prove consent or if offered by the prosecutor; and

(C) evidence whose exclusion would violate the defendant's constitutional rights.

(2) Civil Cases. In a civil case, the court may admit evidence offered to prove a victim's sexual behavior or sexual predisposition if its probative value substantially outweighs the danger of harm to any victim and of unfair prejudice to any party. The court may admit evidence of a victim's reputation only if the victim has placed it in controversy.

(c) Procedure to Determine Admissibility.

(1) Motion. If a party intends to offer evidence under Rule 412(b), the party must:

(A) file a motion that specifically describes the evidence and states the purpose for which it is to be offered;

(B) do so at least 14 days before trial unless the court, for good cause, sets a different
time;

(C) serve the motion on all parties; and

((D) notify the victim or, when appropriate, the victim's guardian or representative.

(2) Hearing. Before admitting evidence under this rule, the court must conduct an in camera hearing and give the victim and parties a right to attend and be heard. Unless the court orders otherwise, the motion, related materials, and the record of the hearing must be and remain sealed.

(d) Definition of "Victim." In this rule, "victim" includes an alleged victim.

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CALIFORNIA EVIDENCE CODE

§ 1100. Manner of proof of character

Except as otherwise provided by statute, any otherwise admissible evidence (including evidence in the form of an opinion, evidence of reputation, and evidence of specific instances of such person's conduct) is admissible to prove a person's character or a trait of his character.

§ 1101. Evidence of character to prove conduct

(a) Except as provided in this section and in Sections 1102, 1103, 1108, and 1109, evidence of a person's character or a trait of his or her character (whether in the form of an opinion, evidence of reputation, or evidence of specific instances of his or her conduct) is inadmissible when offered to prove his or her conduct on a specified occasion.

(b) Nothing in this section prohibits the admission of evidence that a person committed a crime, civil wrong, or other act when relevant to prove some fact (such as motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, absence of mistake or accident, or whether a defendant in a prosecution for an unlawful sexual act or attempted unlawful sexual act did not reasonably and in good faith believe that the victim consented) other than his or her disposition to commit such an act.

(c) Nothing in this section affects the admissibility of evidence offered to support or attack the credibility of a witness.

§ 1102. Opinion and reputation evidence of character of criminal defendant to prove conduct

In a criminal action, evidence of the defendant's character or a trait of his character in the form of an opinion or evidence of his reputation is not made inadmissible by Section 1101 if such evidence is:

(a) Offered by the defendant to prove his conduct in conformity with such character or trait of character.

(b) Offered by the prosecution to rebut evidence adduced by the defendant under subdivision (a).

§ 1103. Character evidence of crime victim to prove conduct; evidence of defendant's character or trait for violence; evidence of manner of dress of victim; evidence of complaining witness' sexual conduct

(a) In a criminal action, evidence of the character or a trait of character (in the form of an opinion, evidence of reputation, or evidence of specific instances of conduct) of the victim of the crime for which the defendant is being prosecuted is not made inadmissible by Section 1101 if the evidence is:

(1) Offered by the defendant to prove conduct of the victim in conformity with the character or trait of character.

(2) Offered by the prosecution to rebut evidence adduced by the defendant under paragraph (1).

(b) In a criminal action, evidence of the defendant's character for violence or trait of character for violence (in the form of an opinion, evidence of reputation, or evidence of specific instances of conduct) is not made inadmissible by Section 1101 if the evidence is offered by the prosecution to prove conduct of the defendant in conformity with the character or trait of character and is offered after evidence that the victim had a character for violence or a trait of character tending to show violence has been adduced by the defendant under paragraph (1) of subdivision (a).

(c)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the contrary, and except as provided in this subdivision, in any prosecution under Section 261, 262, or 264.1 of the Penal Code, or under Section 286, 288a, or 289 of the Penal Code, or for assault with intent to commit, attempt to commit, or conspiracy to commit a crime defined in any of those sections, except where the crime is alleged to have occurred in a local detention facility, as defined in Section 6031.4, or in a state prison, as defined in Section 4504, opinion evidence, reputation evidence, and evidence of specific instances of the complaining witness' sexual conduct, or any of that evidence, is not admissible by the defendant in order to prove consent by the complaining witness.

(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (3), evidence of the manner in which the victim was dressed at the time of the commission of the offense shall not be admissible when offered by either party on the issue of consent in any prosecution for an offense specified in paragraph (1), unless the evidence is determined by the court to be relevant and admissible in the interests of justice. The proponent of the evidence shall make an offer of proof outside the hearing of the jury. The court shall then make its determination and at that time, state the reasons for its ruling on the record. For the purposes of this paragraph, "manner of dress" does not include the condition of the victim's clothing before, during, or after the commission of the offense.

(3) Paragraph (1) shall not be applicable to evidence of the complaining witness' sexual conduct with the defendant.

(4) If the prosecutor introduces evidence, including testimony of a witness, or the complaining witness as a witness gives testimony, and that evidence or testimony relates to the complaining witness' sexual conduct, the defendant may cross-examine the witness who gives the testimony and offer relevant evidence limited specifically to the rebuttal of the evidence introduced by the prosecutor or given by the complaining witness.

(5) Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to make inadmissible any evidence offered to attack the credibility of the complaining witness as provided in Section 782.

(6) As used in this section, "complaining witness" means the alleged victim of the crime charged, the prosecution of which is subject to this subdivision.

§ 1104. Character trait for care or skill

Except as provided in Sections 1102 and 1103, evidence of a trait of a person's character with respect to care or skill is inadmissible to prove the quality of his conduct on a specified occasion.

§ 1106. Sexual harassment, sexual assault, or sexual battery cases; opinion or reputation evidence of plaintiff's sexual conduct; inadmissibility; exception; cross-examination

(a) In any civil action alleging conduct which constitutes sexual harassment, sexual assault, or sexual battery, opinion evidence, reputation evidence, and evidence of specific instances of plaintiff's sexual conduct, or any of such evidence, is not admissible by the defendant in order to prove consent by the plaintiff or the absence of injury to the plaintiff, unless the injury alleged by the plaintiff is in the nature of loss of consortium.

(b) Subdivision (a) shall not be applicable to evidence of the plaintiff's sexual conduct with the alleged perpetrator.

(c) If the plaintiff introduces evidence, including testimony of a witness, or the plaintiff as a witness gives testimony, and the evidence or testimony relates to the plaintiff's sexual conduct, the defendant may cross-examine the witness who gives the testimony and offer relevant evidence limited specifically to the rebuttal of the evidence introduced by the plaintiff or given by the plaintiff.

(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to make inadmissible any evidence offered to attack the credibility of the plaintiff as provided in Section 783.

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Comparative Note.

General Rule of Exclusion. Rule 404(a) and § 1101(a) introduce the general principle that evidence of an individual's character is inadmissible as proof that the individual conformed his or her conduct on a given occasion with his or her character. Accordingly, in a civil action for making a false representation, evidence that the defendant made false representations on other occasions would be inadmissible if offered to prove that the defendant made the false representation in question because he is the kind of person who makes such representations.

The evidence is not excluded because it is irrelevant. Under the Federal and California definitions of relevance, the evidence is relevant. Rather, the evidence is excluded on public policy grounds. First, there is the risk that the admission of the character evidence and its counter evidence might consume too much time and too many judicial resources. Second, there is concern that jurors might overestimate the value of evidence of other misdeeds. Jurors might jump to the unwarranted conclusion that a party is guilty of the misconduct charged if they learn that on other occasions that party engaged in similar misdeeds. Third, in criminal cases there is a fear that jurors might be tempted to return a guilty verdict that is based on the accused's "bad" character rather than on the commission of a punishable act. Having heard that the accused committed misconduct similar to the crime charged, jurors might conclude that he ought to be incarcerated because he is a bad person deserving of removal from society even if they are not convinced that he is guilty of the crime charged. In our system of criminal justice, individuals should be convicted for what they do, not for who they are.1 Although no comparable concern applies in civil matters, the ban on the use of character evidence to prove conduct on a given occasion applies to civil cases as well.2

The Mercy Rule Exception—Character of the Accused. Because life and liberty are at stake in a criminal case, Rule 404(a)(1) and Evidence Code § 1102 adopt the Common Law Mercy Rule allowing the accused to offer evidence of a good character trait as proof that he or she is not the kind of person who would commit the offense charged. If the accused makes use of this exception, then the prosecution is allowed to rebut with evidence of the accused's bad character. Under Rule 405(a) and Evidence Code § 1102, both the accused and the prosecution are limited to opinion and reputation evidence in proving the desired character trait.

The Mercy Rule Exception—Character of the Crime Victim. Rule 404(a)(2) and Evidence Code § 1103(a) also allow the accused to offer evidence of a crime victim's character trait as proof of the victim's conduct on a given occasion if under the substantive criminal law the victim's conduct exculpates or mitigates the accused's misconduct. In an assault prosecution, for example, these provisions would allow the accused to offer bad character evidence of the victim's predisposition to engage in unprovoked attacks as proof that the victim was the first aggressor on the occasion in question. If the accused makes use of this exception, then the prosecution is allowed to rebut with evidence of the victim's good character.

Under Rule 405(a), the accused and prosecution are limited to offering only opinion and reputation evidence in proving the victim's character trait. But under Evidence Code § 1103(a), the accused and prosecution may in addition offer specific instances of the victim's conduct to prove the desired character trait. This is a departure from the traditional Common Law rule.

Under Rule 404(a)(1), if the accused offers bad evidence of the victim's character, the prosecution may in addition offer evidence of the same character trait of the accused. Thus, if the accused impugns the victim's character for peacefulness, the prosecution may rebut not only with evidence of the victim's good character for peacefulness but may also offer evidence of the accused's bad character for this trait. This is true even if the accused refrained in his case-in-chief from offering evidence of his good character. Under Rule 404(a)(1), the parties are limited to offering opinion or reputation evidence. Rule 404(a)(1) is a departure from the traditional Common Law rule.

Evidence Code § 1103(b) is similar to Rule 404(a)(1) but is limited to the character trait for violence. If the accused offers evidence of the victim's predisposition to engage in unprovoked attacks, the prosecution may in addition offer evidence of the accused's character for violence to prove that he was the first aggressor on the occasion in question. Under the California provision, the prosecution is not limited to offering opinion or reputation evidence. It may also offer evidence of specific instances of violence by the accused to establish the pertinent character trait. Section 1103(b) is a departure from the traditional Common Law rule.

Under Rule 404(a)(2), the prosecution may in a homicide prosecution offer evidence of the victim's trait of peacefulness even if the accused did not first offer evidence of the victim's predisposition to engage in unprovoked attacks. So long as the accused offers evidence that the victim was the first aggressor on the occasion in question, the prosecution may offer evidence of the victim's trait of peacefulness in the form of opinion and reputation evidence. This is a departure from the traditional Common Law rule. The Code does not contain a similar provision.

Proof of Other Purposes. Rule 404(b) and Evidence Code § 1101(b) make explicit what is implied in the rules prohibiting the use of character evidence to prove conduct on a specified occasion. If the evidence is offered to prove some relevant proposition—other than a person's predisposition to engage in particular conduct—then the evidence is admissible unless banned by some other rule. Both provisions provide similar, though not identical, non-exclusive lists of permissible propositions. Federal Rule 404(b) differs from the Evidence Code in that it requires the prosecution in a criminal case to provide notice in advance of trial of its intention to offer evidence under the rule.

Character as an Element of the Cause of Action. Whenever a character trait is an element of a criminal or civil cause of action, Rule 405(b) and Evidence Code § 1101 allow the use of relevant evidence to prove the trait. In a defamation action, for example, a defendant is entitled to offer evidence that the plaintiff engaged in dishonest conduct in order to prove that the plaintiff is a liar. The plaintiff's claim that the defendant defamed him by calling him a liar makes the existence of his trait for truth telling an element of the cause of action.

Character for Care and Skill. Evidence Code § 1104 provides that except as provided in §§ 1102 and 1103, evidence of a trait of a person's character with respect to care or skill is inadmissible to prove the quality of his conduct on a specified occasion. The Rules do not have a counterpart. Such a provision is unnecessary. The federal prohibition on the use of character evidence to prove conduct on given occasion is sufficiently broad to exclude this kind of evidence.

Rape Shield Provisions. In the absence of special provisions, the rules allowing the accused to offer evidence of the victim's character to prove conduct in conformity with that character would pose serious problems in sexual assault prosecutions. If a jury believes that the victim consented to the sexual contact charged against the accused, then under the substantive criminal law of most jurisdictions they would have to acquit. Prior to the adoption of the rape shield laws, the accused in California was free to offer evidence of the victim's sexual conduct with others to prove her or his predisposition to consent to sexual contact, including on the occasion charged against the accused. Concern that the use of sexual history would deter victims from testifying gave rise to the rape shield laws.

Federal Rape Shield Provisions. Federal Rule 412, the federal rape shield law, generally bars the use of a victim's sexual behavior or predisposition in cases involving sexual misconduct, whether offered as substantive evidence or for impeachment. The prohibition is to be read broadly and, according to the Advisory Committee Note, should exclude such evidence as the victim's mode of dress, speech, and lifestyle. Rule 412, not Rule 404, governs the use of character evidence to prove consent in criminal cases. Rule 412 permits the accused to offer evidence of specific instances of his own sexual conduct with the victim to prove consent, unless the judge concludes that the probative value of the evidence is substantially outweighed by the prejudicial concerns enumerated in Rule 403. In proving consent, the accused is not limited to prior instances of sexual activity between the victim and the accused. The Advisory Committee Note emphasizes that the accused may also offer other evidence that is probative of the victim's predisposition to engage in consensual activities with the accused, including statements in which the victim expressed an interest in engaging in sexual activities with the accused or voiced sexual fantasies involving the accused. Rule 412 allows the accused to offer evidence of specific instances of the victim's sexual conduct with others only to prove that someone other than the accused is responsible for the assault charged.

A 1994 amendment makes it clear that Rule 412's rape shield law applies as well in civil cases involving sexual misconduct, such as sexual harassment claims. Rather than spell out the limited purposes for which evidence of a victim's sexual behavior or predisposition can be received in civil cases, Rule 412 commits the admissibility of the evidence to the court's discretion. If the evidence is otherwise admissible under the Rules, it may be received if the court finds that its probative value on contested issues substantially outweighs the danger of harm to the victim and of prejudice to any party. This weighing formula and not the one in Rule 403 governs the use of Rule 412 evidence in a civil case.

Whether offered in a civil or criminal case, before admitting evidence under Rule 412, the judge, upon motion by the offering party, must hold an in camera hearing at which the alleged victim and all parties are entitled to be heard. The motion must be filed at least fourteen days before the trial, unless the judge for good cause requires a different time or permits the motion to be filed during the trial.

California Rape Shield Provisions. Section 1103 (c) is California's rape shield provision. Prior to its enactment, the accused could rely on § 1103(a)(1) to offer evidence of the victim's relations with him as well as with others to prove the victim's predisposition to consent on the occasion being tried. Now, § 1103(c)(3) limits the accused to evidence of the victim's sexual conduct with him. The accused may not offer evidence of the victim's sexual conduct with others unless the prosecution introduces evidence or the complaining witness gives testimony relating to the complaining witness's sexual conduct. If that occurs, the accused may offer evidence limited specifically to rebutting the evidence introduced by the prosecution or given by the complaining witness.

Although § 1103(c)(3) preserves the right of the accused to offer instances of the victim's sexual conduct with him to prove her consent to the act in question, that right is not limitless. To begin with, a judge may exclude the evidence of the past relations if the judge concludes under § 352 that its probative value on the issue of consent is outweighed by its prejudicial effects. Also, in proving the victim's consent on the occasion in question, the accused may not offer evidence of the manner in which the victim was dressed. That evidence is admissible only if, after a hearing outside the presence of the jury, the judge determines that it is relevant and admissible in the interests of justice.

Like Rule 412(b)(2), Evidence Code § 1106 also places limits on the admissibility of the victim's sexual conduct with others in civil actions involving sexual harassment, battery, or assault. Rule 412(b)(2), however, generally commits the admissibility of the evidence to the court's discretion. Section 1106, in contrast, expressly prohibits the use of the victim's sexual conduct with others to prove consent unless the injury alleged by the plaintiff involves loss of consortium.

§ 4.02 New Exceptions to the Ban on the Use of Character Evidence

FEDERAL RULES OF EVIDENCE

Rule 413. Similar Crimes in Sexual-Assault Cases

(a) Permitted Uses. In a criminal case in which a defendant is accused of a sexual assault, the court may admit evidence that the defendant committed any other sexual assault. The evidence may be considered on any matter to which it is relevant.

(b) Disclosure to the Defendant. If the prosecutor intends to offer this evidence, the prosecutor must disclose it to the defendant, including witnesses' statements or a summary of the expected testimony. The prosecutor must do so at least 15 days before trial or at a later time that the court allows for good cause.

(c) Effect on Other Rules. This rule does not limit the admission or consideration of evidence under any other rule.

(d) Definition of "Sexual Assault." In this rule and Rule 415, "sexual assault" means a crime under federal law or under state law (as "state" is defined in 18 U.S.C. § 513) involving:

(1) any conduct prohibited by 18 U.S.C. chapter 109A;

(2) contact, without consent, between any part of the defendant's body — or an object — and another person's genitals or anus;

(3) contact, without consent, between the defendant's genitals or anus and any part of another person's body;

(4) deriving sexual pleasure or gratification from inflicting death, bodily injury, or physical pain on another person; or

(5) an attempt or conspiracy to engage in conduct described in subparagraphs (1)-(4).

Rule 414. Similar Crimes in Child-Molestation Cases

(a) Permitted Uses. In a criminal case in which a defendant is accused of child molestation, the court may admit evidence that the defendant committed any other child molestation. The evidence may be considered on any matter to which it is relevant.

(b) Disclosure to the Defendant. If the prosecutor intends to offer this evidence, the prosecutor must disclose it to the defendant, including witnesses' statements or a summary of the expected testimony. The prosecutor must do so at least 15 days before trial or at a later time that the court allows for good cause.

(c) Effect on Other Rules. This rule does not limit the admission or consideration of evidence under any other rule.

(d) Definition of "Child" and "Child Molestation."

In this rule and Rule 415:

(1) "child" means a person below the age of 14; and

(2) "child molestation" means a crime under federal law or under state law (as "state" is defined in 18 U.S.C. § 513) involving:

(A) any conduct prohibited by 18 U.S.C. chapter 109A and committed with a child;

(B) any conduct prohibited by 18 U.S.C. chapter 110;

(C) contact between any part of the defendant's body — or an object — and a child's genitals or anus;

(D) contact between the defendant's genitals or anus and any part of a child's body;

(E) deriving sexual pleasure or gratification from inflicting death, bodily injury, or physical pain on a child; or

(F) an attempt or conspiracy to engage in conduct described in subparagraphs (A)-(E).

Rule 415. Similar Acts in Civil Cases Involving Sexual Assault or Child Molestation

(a) Permitted Uses. In a civil case involving a claim for relief based on a party's alleged sexual assault or child molestation, the court may admit evidence that the party committed any other sexual assault or child molestation. The evidence may be considered as provided in Rules 413 and 414.

(b) Disclosure to the Opponent. If a party intends to offer this evidence, the party must disclose it to the party against whom it will be offered, including witnesses' statements or a summary of the expected testimony. The party must do so at least 15 days before trial or at a later time that the court allows for good cause.

(c) Effect on Other Rules. This rule does not limit the admission or consideration of evidence under any other rule.

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CALIFORNIA EVIDENCE CODE

§ 1108. Evidence of another sexual offense by defendant; disclosure; construction of section

(a) In a criminal action in which the defendant is accused of a sexual offense, evidence of the defendant's commission of another sexual offense or offenses is not made inadmissible by Section 1101, if the evidence is not inadmissible pursuant to Section 352.

(b) In an action in which evidence is to be offered under this section, the people shall disclose the evidence to the defendant, including statements of witnesses or a summary of the substance of any testimony that is expected to be offered in compliance with the provisions of Section 1054.7 of the Penal Code.

(c) This section shall not be construed to limit the admission or consideration of evidence under any other section of this code.

(d) As used in this section, the following definitions shall apply:

(1) "Sexual offense" means a crime under the law of a state or of the United States that involved any of the following:

(A) Any conduct proscribed by Section 243.4, 261, 261.5, 262, 264.1, 266c, 269, 286, 288, 288a, 288.2, 288.5, or 289, or subdivision (b), (c), or (d) of Section 311.2 or Section 311.3, 311.4, 311.10, 311.11, 314, or 647.6, of the Penal Code.

(B) Any conduct proscribed by Section 220 of the Penal Code, except assault with intent to commit mayhem.

(C) Contact, without consent, between any part of the defendant's body or an object and the genitals or anus of another person.

(D) Contact, without consent, between the genitals or anus of the defendant and any part of another person's body.

(E) Deriving sexual pleasure or gratification from the infliction of death, bodily injury, or physical pain on another person.

(F) An attempt or conspiracy to engage in conduct described in this paragraph.

(2) "Consent" shall have the same meaning as provided in Section 261.6 of the Penal Code, except that it does not include consent which is legally ineffective because of the age, mental disorder, or developmental or physical disability of the victim.

§ 1109. Evidence of defendant's other acts of domestic violence

(a)(1) Except as provided in subdivision (e) or (f), in a criminal action in which the defendant is accused of an offense involving domestic violence, evidence of the defendant's commission of other domestic violence is not made inadmissible by Section 1101 if the evidence is not inadmissible pursuant to Section 352.

(2) Except as provided in subdivision (e) or (f), in a criminal action in which the defendant is accused of an offense involving abuse of an elder or dependent person, evidence of the defendant's commission of other abuse of an elder or dependent person is not made inadmissible by Section 1101 if the evidence is not inadmissible pursuant to Section 352.

(3) Except as provided in subdivision (e) or (f) and subject to a hearing conducted pursuant to Section 352, which shall include consideration of any corroboration and remoteness in time, in a criminal action in which the defendant is accused of an offense involving child abuse, evidence of the defendant's commission of child abuse is not made inadmissible by Section 1101 if the evidence is not inadmissible pursuant to Section 352. Nothing in this paragraph prohibits or limits the admission of evidence pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 1101.

(b) In an action in which evidence is to be offered under this section, the people shall disclose the evidence to the defendant, including statements of witnesses or a summary of the substance of any testimony that is expected to be offered, in compliance with the provisions of Section 1054. 7 of the Penal Code.

(c) This section shall not be construed to limit or preclude the admission or consideration of evidence under any other statute or case law.

(d) As used in this section:

(1) "Abuse of an elder or dependent person" means physical or sexual abuse, neglect, financial abuse, abandonment, isolation, abduction, or other treatment that results in physical harm, pain, or mental suffering, the deprivation of care by a caregiver, or other deprivation by a custodian or provider of goods or services that are necessary to avoid physical harm or mental suffering.

(2) "Child abuse" means an act proscribed by Section 273d of the Penal Code.

(3) "Domestic violence" has the meaning set forth in Section 13700 of the Penal Code. Subject to a hearing conducted pursuant to Section 352, which shall include consideration of any corroboration and remoteness in time, "domestic violence" has the further meaning as set forth in Section 6211 of the Family Code, if the act occurred no more than five years before the charged offense.

(e) Evidence of acts occurring more than 10 years before the charged offense is inadmissible under this section, unless the court determines that the admission of this evidence is in the interest of justice.

(f) Evidence of the findings and determinations of administrative agencies regulating the conduct of health facilities licensed under Section 1250 of the Health and Safety Code is inadmissible under this section.

<EN>---

Comparative Note.

Federal Rules. The crime bill approved by Congress in 1994 creates three exceptions to Rule 404(a)'s ban on the use of character evidence. Rules 413–415 allow the use of character evidence in prosecutions in which the accused is charged with sexual assault or child molestation, and in civil cases in which the victim seeks compensation for having been sexually assaulted or molested. The new rules authorize the use of evidence of the defendant's commission of other sexual assaults or molestations to prove any relevant matter, including the defendant's predisposition to commit the offense charged.

Rules 413 and 414 require the government to disclose the uncharged misdeed evidence to the defendant, including statements of witnesses or summaries of the testimony it anticipates offering, at least fifteen days prior to the trial or at a later time as the court may allow for good cause. Rule 415, which applies to civil actions, imposes the same disclosure requirements on the party seeking to offer the evidence allowed by the rule.

The crime bill required the Judicial Conference to provide Congress with a report containing the Conference's recommendations on the new rules. In its report, the Conference concurred with the views of the Advisory Committees on the Evidence Rules and on the Criminal and Civil Rules that adopting the new rules was undesirable. Of the more than forty judges, practicing lawyers, and academicians asked to review the new rules, only the representatives of the U. S. Department of Justice favored adopting them. Among the reasons cited by the Judicial Conference for its opposition were (1) the lack of empirical evidence to support the proposition that evidence of past acts is predictive of future acts, (2) the danger of convicting the accused on account of his "bad" character, (3) the undue consumption of time and potential for confusion of issues that could emanate from the mini-trials required to prove or disprove that the defendant engaged in the uncharged misconduct, and (4) concerns that the uncharged misconduct evidence would have to be received if relevant.1 Despite this strong opposition, Congress did not modify or reject the new rules, and they went into effect in 1995.

The Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Circuits have construed the Federal Rules as authorizing federal judges to employ Rule 403 to exclude propensity evidence offered under Rules 413–415 whenever its probative value on contested issues is substantially outweighed by it prejudicial effects.2 Rules 413–415 are silent on the applicability of Rule 403.

California. Section 1108 is California's response to the Congressional enactment of Rules 413–414. Section 1108 differs from the federal rules in two respects. First, under the California provision the bad character evidence is limited to prosecutions and is not admissible in civil actions for damages. Second, the range of prosecutions in which the evidence is admissible in California is broader than under the federal rules. Section 1108 includes not only sexual assault and child molestation prosecutions but also prosecutions for possessing pornographic materials depicting minors, employing minors for sexual depictions, and distributing obscene material to minors, irrespective of whether these materials have been transported in interstate commerce.3 Like Federal Rules 413–414, § 1108 requires the prosecution to notify the accused of its intention to offer the bad character evidence prior to the start of the trial.

Unlike the Federal Rules, § 1108 expressly empowers trial judges to exclude the evidence of uncharged sexual misdeeds if its probative value is substantially outweighed by its prejudicial effects. In assessing the probative value of the evidence, the judge should consider the dissimilarities between the uncharged and charged misdeeds, the remoteness of the uncharged misdeed, the amount of time needed to receive evidence proving and disproving the uncharged misdeed, and the probability that the evidence of the uncharged misdeed might confuse the jurors.4 If the trial judge admits the evidence of the uncharged sexual misdeeds, then under California decisions the jurors must be told not to consider the evidence against the accused unless they first find by a preponderance of the evidence that the accused committed the misdeeds.5

If under § 1108 evidence of uncharged sexual misdeeds is received to prove the accused's propensity to commit the sexual misdeed charged, the accused is entitled to disprove the trait with good character evidence. Section 1108 limits the prosecution to offering evidence of specific instances of sexual misconduct in establishing the accused's propensity to commit the sexual misdeed charged. But the defendant's right of rebuttal is not so limited. The defendant's greater rights stem from the fact that the rebuttal evidence is governed by § 1100 which provides that, when character evidence is admissible, the pertinent trait may be proved by evidence of reputation, opinion, or specific instances of conduct.

Section 1108 is not the only recent exception to the rule banning the use of character evidence to prove conduct. Section 1109 allows prosecutors to offer evidence of an accused's acts of domestic violence, elder or dependent adult abuse, or child abuse as proof of the accused's propensity to commit such violence or abuse if offered in an action in which the accused is charged with an offense involving domestic violence, elder or dependent adult abuse, or child abuse. In the case of domestic abuse, the accused does not need to be charged with "domestic violence" for the other acts of domestic violence to be admissible. The section is triggered if the offense charged involves such acts. For example, forcibly raping a girlfriend6 or a spouse7 can be viewed as a form of domestic violence. Accordingly, forcible rape can open the door to other acts of domestic violence even if the other acts do not involve sexual misconduct.8 Moreover, the prosecution is not limited to offering only acts of domestic violence with the victim of the offense charged. In proving the accused's propensity to engage in acts of domestic violence, the prosecution may call as witnesses other victims of the accused's violence.9

Like § 1108, § 1109 requires the prosecution to inform the accused prior to the trial of its intention to offer the uncharged acts. As in the case of § 1108, the judge is empowered under § 1109 to exclude the uncharged acts evidence if its probative value is substantially outweighed by its prejudicial effects. Evidence of uncharged acts occurring more than ten years before the charged act is generally inadmissible unless the judge determines that its admission is in the interest of justice.

Before the jurors may consider the other acts of domestic violence or abuse, they must first find by a preponderance of the evidence that the accused committed those acts.10

There is no federal counterpart to § 1109.

§ 4.03 Habit and Custom

FEDERAL RULES OF EVIDENCE

Rule 406. Habit; Routine Practice

Evidence of a person's habit or an organization's routine practice may be admitted to prove that on a particular occasion the person or organization acted in accordance with the habit or routine practice. The court may admit this evidence regardless of whether it is corroborated or whether there was an eyewitness.

CALIFORNIA EVIDENCE CODE

§ 1105. Habit or custom to prove specific behavior

Any otherwise admissible evidence of habit or custom is admissible to prove conduct on a specified occasion in conformity with the habit or custom.

<EN>---

Comparative Note. Evidence that is inadmissible as character evidence may be admissible if offered as evidence of habit or custom. Federal Rule of Evidence 406 and Evidence Code § 1105 provide that evidence of a habit may be admitted to prove that on a specified occasion a person conducted himself or herself in conformity with the habit. Both, moreover, provide that evidence of custom or routine practice may likewise be admitted to prove that on a given occasion an organization conformed its operations to the custom or routine practice.

Because evidence of habit or custom is beyond the ban on the use of character evidence to prove conduct, it is important for the parties and the court to distinguish between character evidence and evidence of habit and custom. The key can be found in the definition of a habit. Both the Advisory Committee Note to Rule 406 and the Comment to § 1105 define a habit as a "regular response to a repeated specific situation." This definition was taken from Dean Charles McCormick's treatise on evidence.1 Because habits are regular responses to repeated situations, their execution does not require much thought. They are more probative of conduct than character because as semi-automatic, consistent responses to a specific stimulus they say much about a person's conduct when encountering the stimulus. Moreover, receiving evidence of custom or routine practice can be justified on the grounds of need. It would be unrealistic, for example, for a large business to prove through witnesses with first hand knowledge that one customer out of many was mailed a particular bill. Human memory simply cannot help.

There is no substantive difference between the federal and California approaches to evidence of habit and custom or routine practice.

§ 4.04 Subsequent Remedial Measures

FEDERAL RULES OF EVIDENCE

Rule 407. Subsequent Remedial Measures

When measures are taken that would have made an earlier injury or harm less likely to occur, evidence of the subsequent measures is not admissible to prove:

• negligence;

• culpable conduct;

• a defect in a product or its design; or

• a need for a warning or instruction.

But the court may admit this evidence for another purpose, such as impeachment or--if disputed-- proving ownership, control, or the feasibility of precautionary measures.

<EN>---

CALIFORNIA EVIDENCE CODE

§ 1151. Subsequent remedial conduct

When, after the occurrence of an event, remedial or precautionary measures are taken, which, if taken previously, would have tended to make the event less likely to occur, evidence of such subsequent measures is inadmissible to prove negligence or culpable conduct in connection with the event.

<EN>---

Comparative Note. Personal injury lawyers can appreciate the value of presenting the fact finder with evidence of the steps the defendant took to remedy the condition or instrumentality which harmed the plaintiff. They know that the fact finder would consider such steps as an admission by the defendant of wrongdoing, whether inadvertent or otherwise. Unfortunately for the plaintiffs' bar, Rule 407 and Evidence Code § 1151 bar the use of evidence of subsequent remedial measures if offered to prove negligence or other culpable conduct.

The evidence is not excluded because it is irrelevant. Rather, it is excluded because of the belief that its use to prove negligence or other culpable conduct would discourage defendants from making repairs after an accident.

Section 1151 does not apply to strict liability actions. In Ault v. International Harvester Co.1 the California Supreme Court held that the term "culpable conduct" does not embrace strict liability. In a strict liability action against a manufacturer, "negligence or culpability is not a necessary ingredient. The plaintiff may recover if he establishes that the product was defective, and he need not show that the defendants breached a duty of due care."2

At one time, the federal circuits were split on whether the subsequent repair doctrine of Rule 407 as originally enacted applied to strict liability cases. The proper construction of Rule 407 is no longer an issue, however. A 1997 amendment provides that evidence of subsequent remedial measures is not admissible to prove "a defect in a product or its design."

The 1997 amendment also makes clear that Rule 407, like Evidence Code § 1151, applies only to remedial measures undertaken after the occurrence that produced the damages giving rise to the action. "Evidence of measures taken by the defendant prior to the 'event' causing the 'injury or harm' do not fall within the exclusionary scope of Rule 407 even if they occurred after the manufacture or design of the product."3

The sending of warning or recall notices to owners of products may be viewed as a remedial measure. But consistent with Ault's holding that § 1151 does not apply in strict liability actions, notices alerting consumers to take safety measures are admissible against a manufacturer in a California strict liability action. Under Rule 407, however, such notices may not be offered to prove a design or manufacturing defect in federal court.

Evidence of remedial measures may be admissible if relevant to some issue other than the defendant's negligence or culpable conduct. As stated in Rule 407, evidence of subsequent remedial measures need not be excluded when offered for another purpose, such as "proving ownership, control, or feasibility of precautionary measures." The Evidence Code does not contain an equivalent provision. No such provision is necessary, however, since the evidence would not be within the prohibition of § 1151.

Evidence of remedial measures undertaken by third parties independently of the defendant is not barred by the subsequent repair doctrine. It is immaterial whether the evidence is offered to prove a defective condition in a strict liability case, as in Ault, or to prove negligence or other culpable conduct. In the latter case, the policy of encouraging repairs is not undermined as liability is not sought against the person taking the remedial action.

§ 4.05 Compromise

FEDERAL RULES OF EVIDENCE

Rule 408. Compromise Offers and Negotiations

(a) Prohibited Uses. Evidence of the following is not admissible--on behalf of any party--either to prove or disprove the validity or amount of a disputed claim or to impeach by a prior inconsistent statement or a contradiction:

(1) furnishing, promising, or offering--or accepting, promising to accept, or offering to accept --a valuable consideration in compromising or attempting to compromise the claim; and

(2) conduct or a statement made during compromise negotiations about the claim--except when offered in a criminal case and when the negotiations related to a claim by a public office in the exercise of its regulatory, investigative, or enforcement authority.

(b) Exceptions. The court may admit this evidence for another purpose, such as proving a witness's bias or prejudice, negating a contention of undue delay, or proving an effort to obstruct a criminal investigation or prosecution.

<EN>---

CALIFORNIA EVIDENCE CODE

§ 1115. Definitions

For purposes of this chapter:

(a) "Mediation" means a process in which a neutral person or persons facilitate communication between the disputants to assist them in reaching a mutually acceptable agreement.

(b) "Mediator" means a neutral person who conducts a mediation. "Mediator" includes any person designated by a mediator either to assist in the mediation or to communicate with the participants in preparation for a mediation.

(c) "Mediation consultation" means a communication between a person and a mediator for the purpose of initiating, considering, or reconvening a mediation or retaining the mediator.

§ 1116. Effect of chapter

(a) Nothing in this chapter expands or limits a court's authority to order participation in a dispute resolution proceeding. Nothing in this chapter authorizes or affects the enforceability of a contract clause in which parties agree to the use of mediation.

(b) Nothing in this chapter makes admissible evidence that is inadmissible under Section 1152 or any other statute.

§ 1117. Application of chapter

(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), this chapter applies to a mediation as defined in Section 1115.

(b) This chapter does not apply to either of the following:

(1) A proceeding under Part 1 (commencing with Section 1800) of Division 5 of the Family Code or Chapter 11 (commencing with Section 3160) of Part 2 of Division 8 of the Family Code.

(2) A settlement conference pursuant to Rule 3.1380 of the California Rules of Court.

§ 1118. Oral agreements

An oral agreement "in accordance with Section 1118" means an oral agreement that satisfies all of the following conditions:

(a) The oral agreement is recorded by a court reporter or reliable means of audio recording.

(b) The terms of the oral agreement are recited on the record in the presence of the parties and the mediator, and the parties express on the record that they agree to the terms recited.

(c) The parties to the oral agreement expressly state on the record that the agreement is enforceable or binding or words to that effect.

(d) The recording is reduced to writing and the writing is signed by the parties within 72 hours after it is recorded.

§ 1119. Written or oral communications during mediation process; admissibility

Except as otherwise provided in this chapter:

(a) No evidence of anything said or any admission made for the purpose of, in the course of, or pursuant to, a mediation or a mediation consultation is admissible or subject to discovery, and disclosure of the evidence shall not be compelled, in any arbitration, administrative adjudication, civil action, or other noncriminal proceeding in which, pursuant to law, testimony can be compelled to be given.

(b) No writing, as defined in Section 250, that is prepared for the purpose of, in the course of, or pursuant to, a mediation or a mediation consultation, is admissible or subject to discovery, and disclosure of the writing shall not be compelled, in any arbitration, administrative adjudication, civil action, or other noncriminal proceeding in which, pursuant to law, testimony can be compelled to be given.

(c) All communications, negotiations, or settlement discussions by and between participants in the course of a mediation or a mediation consultation shall remain confidential.

§ 1120. Evidence otherwise admissible

(a) Evidence otherwise admissible or subject to discovery outside of a mediation or a mediation consultation shall not be or become inadmissible or protected from disclosure solely by reason of its introduction or use in a mediation or a mediation consultation.

(b) This chapter does not limit any of the following:

(1) The admissibility of an agreement to mediate a dispute.

(2) The effect of an agreement not to take a default or an agreement to extend the time within which to act or refrain from acting in a pending civil action.

(3) Disclosure of the mere fact that a mediator has served, is serving, will serve, or was contacted about serving as a mediator in a dispute.

§ 1121. Mediator's reports and findings

Neither a mediator nor anyone else may submit to a court or other adjudicative body, and a court or other adjudicative body may not consider, any report, assessment, evaluation, recommendation, or finding of any kind by the mediator concerning a mediation conducted by the mediator, other than a report that is mandated by court rule or other law and that states only whether an agreement was reached, unless all parties to the mediation expressly agree otherwise in writing, or orally in accordance with Section 1118.

§ 1122. Communications or writings; conditions to admissibility

(a) A communication or a writing, as defined in Section 250, that is made or prepared for the purpose of, or in the course of, or pursuant to, a mediation or a mediation consultation, is not made inadmissible, or protected from disclosure, by provisions of this chapter if either of the following conditions is satisfied:

(1) All persons who conduct or otherwise participate in the mediation expressly agree in writing, or orally in accordance with Section 1118, to disclosure of the communication, document, or writing.

(2) The communication, document, or writing was prepared by or on behalf of fewer than all the mediation participants, those participants expressly agree in writing, or orally in accordance with Section 1118, to its disclosure, and the communication, document, or writing does not disclose anything said or done or any admission made in the course of the mediation.

(b) For purposes of subdivision (a), if the neutral person who conducts a mediation expressly agrees to disclosure, that agreement also binds any other person described in subdivision (b) of Section 1115.

§ 1123. Written settlement agreements; conditions to admissibility

A written settlement agreement prepared in the course of, or pursuant to, a mediation, is not made inadmissible, or protected from disclosure, by provisions of this chapter if the agreement is signed by the settling parties and any of the following conditions are satisfied:

(a) The agreement provides that it is admissible or subject to disclosure, or words to that effect.

(b) The agreement provides that it is enforceable or binding or words to that effect.

(c) All parties to the agreement expressly agree in writing, or orally in accordance with Section 1118, to its disclosure.

(d) The agreement is used to show fraud, duress, or illegality that is relevant to an issue in dispute.

§ 1124. Oral agreements; conditions to admissibility

An oral agreement made in the course of, or pursuant to, a mediation is not made inadmissible, or protected from disclosure, by the provisions of this chapter if any of the following conditions are satisfied:

(a) The agreement is in accordance with Section 1118.

(b) The agreement is in accordance with subdivisions (a), (b), and (d) of Section 1118, and all parties to the agreement expressly agree, in writing or orally in accordance with Section 1118, to disclosure of the agreement.

(c) The agreement is in accordance with subdivisions (a), (b), and (d) of Section 1118, and the agreement is used to show fraud, duress, or illegality that is relevant to an issue in dispute.

§ 1125. End of mediation; satisfaction of conditions

(a) For purposes of confidentiality under this chapter, a mediation ends when any one of the following conditions is satisfied:

(1) The parties execute a written settlement agreement that fully resolves the dispute.

(2) An oral agreement that fully resolves the dispute is reached in accordance with Section 1118.

(3) The mediator provides the mediation participants with a writing signed by the mediator that states that the mediation is terminated, or words to that effect, which shall be consistent with Section 1121.

(4) A party provides the mediator and the other mediation participants with a writing stating that the mediation is terminated, or words to that effect, which shall be consistent with Section 1121. In a mediation involving more than two parties, the mediation may continue as to the remaining parties or be terminated in accordance with this section.

(5) For 10 calendar days, there is no communication between the mediator and any of the parties to the mediation relating to the dispute. The mediator and the parties may shorten or extend this time by agreement.

(b) For purposes of confidentiality under this chapter, if a mediation partially resolves a dispute, mediation ends when either of the following conditions is satisfied:

(1) The parties execute a written settlement agreement that partially resolves the dispute.

(2) An oral agreement that partially resolves the dispute is reached in accordance with Section 1118.

(c) This section does not preclude a party from ending a mediation without reaching an agreement. This section does not otherwise affect the extent to which a party may terminate a mediation.

§ 1126. Protections before and after mediation ends

Anything said, any admission made, or any writing that is inadmissible, protected from disclosure, and confidential under this chapter before a mediation ends, shall remain inadmissible, protected from disclosure, and confidential to the same extent after the mediation ends.

§ 1127. Attorney's fees and costs

If a person subpoenas or otherwise seeks to compel a mediator to testify or produce a writing, as defined in Section 250, and the court or other adjudicative body determines that the testimony or writing is inadmissible under this chapter, or protected from disclosure under this chapter, the court or adjudicative body making the determination shall award reasonable attorney's fees and costs to the mediator against the person seeking the testimony or writing.

§ 1128. Subsequent trials; references to mediation

Any reference to a mediation during any subsequent trial is an irregularity in the proceedings of the trial for the purposes of Section 657 of the Code of Civil Procedure. Any reference to a mediation during any other subsequent noncriminal proceeding is grounds for vacating or modifying the decision in that proceeding, in whole or in part, and granting a new or further hearing on all or part of the issues, if the reference materially affected the substantial rights of the party requesting relief.

§ 1152. Offers to compromise

(a) Evidence that a person has, in compromise or from humanitarian motives, furnished or offered or promised to furnish money or any other thing, act, or service to another who has sustained or will sustain or claims that he or she has sustained or will sustain loss or damage, as well as any conduct or statements made in negotiation thereof, is inadmissible to prove his or her liability for the loss or damage or any part of it.

(b) In the event that evidence of an offer to compromise is admitted in an action for breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing or violation of subdivision (h) of Section 790.03 of the Insurance Code, then at the request of the party against whom the evidence is admitted, or at the request of the party who made the offer to compromise that was admitted, evidence relating to any other offer or counteroffer to compromise the same or substantially the same claimed loss or damage shall also be admissible for the same purpose as the initial evidence regarding settlement. Other than as may be admitted in an action for breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing or violation of subdivision (h) of Section 790.03 of the Insurance Code, evidence of settlement offers shall not be admitted in a motion for a new trial, in any proceeding involving an additur or remittitur, or on appeal.

(c) This section does not affect the admissibility of evidence of any of the following:

(1) Partial satisfaction of an asserted claim or demand without questioning its validity when such evidence is offered to prove the validity of the claim.

(2) A debtor's payment or promise to pay all or a part of his or her preexisting debt when such evidence is offered to prove the creation of a new duty on his or her part or a revival of his or her preexisting duty.

§ 1153.5. Offer for civil resolution of crimes against property

Evidence of an offer for civil resolution of a criminal matter pursuant to the provisions of Section 33 of the Code of Civil Procedure, or admissions made in the course of or negotiations for the offer shall not be admissible in any action.

§ 1154. Offer to discount a claim

Evidence that a person has accepted or offered or promised to accept a sum of money or any other thing, act, or service in satisfaction of a claim, as well as any conduct or statements made in negotiation thereof, is inadmissible to prove the invalidity of the claim or any part of it.

<EN>---

Comparative Note. Life would be easier for plaintiffs and defendants if they could show the jurors that their opponents had offered to settle their claims. But to promote the public policy of compromising and settling disputes, Rule 408 and Evidence Code §§ 1152 and 1154 prohibit the use of settlement offers to prove the validity or invalidity of a claim. Accordingly, a plaintiff may not prove the validity of his claim by evidence that the defendant offered to settle his claim, and a defendant may not prove the invalidity of the plaintiff's claim by evidence that the plaintiff was prepared to accept a lower amount. To ensure a candid exchange of views, the prohibition applies to settlement conference statements and conduct as well as to the offers themselves.

To invoke the protection afforded by Rule 408 and §§ 1152 and 1154, the objecting party must show that the statement was made in an effort to compromise an actual dispute over the validity of a claim or its amount. This position is reflected in those provisions of § 1152 which provide that the section does not affect the admissibility of evidence of "(1) [p]artial satisfaction of an asserted claim or demand without questioning its validity when such evidence is offered to prove the validity of the claim [and] (2) [a] debtor's payment or promise to pay all or a part of his or her preexisting debt when such evidence is offered to prove the creation of a new duty on his or her part or a revival of his or her preexisting duty."

If the evidence of settlement is offered not to prove liability but some other relevant proposition, then the evidence is no longer within the prohibition of the rules. For example, if a defendant settles with one of several plaintiffs and then calls the dismissed plaintiff as a witness, the remaining plaintiffs may elicit the fact of settlement on cross-examination to show the witness's bias.

The protection afforded by § 1152 does not extend to California criminal cases. In People v. Muniz1 the accused sought to exclude evidence that he had offered to pay for the victim's medical expenses in a sex offense prosecution. The court upheld the admission of the evidence, holding that § 1152 is limited to civil cases.2 The court refused to construe "liability" as used in the section to include criminal matters.

The same question that has arisen in federal courts. Some courts hold that Rule 408's protection does not extend to criminal cases.3 A 2006 amendment to Rule 408 now allows the use of statements or conduct made during compromise negotiations "when offered in a criminal case and when the negotiations relate to a claim by a public office in the exercise of regulatory, investigative, or enforcement authority."4 By way of justification, the Advisory Committee Note emphasizes that "[w]here an individual makes a statement in the presence of government agents, its subsequent admission in a criminal case should not be unexpected."5 Accordingly, where a defendant in a civil proceeding brought by the IRS makes damaging admissions in an effort to compromise the claim, Rule 408 as amended would allow the government to offer those admissions in a subsequent prosecution for tax evasion. The judge, however, is still empowered to exclude the admissions under Federal Rule of Evidence 403 if their probative value is substantially outweighed by their prejudicial effects. As an example, the Advisory Committee cites the statements an unrepresented individual makes in a civil enforcement proceeding.6

Rule 408, as amended, purports to distinguish between evidence of statements and conduct made during compromise negotiations and evidence that the accused offered or agreed to settle the claim.7 Accordingly, in a tax evasion prosecution, the government may not offer evidence that the accused offered to compromise the tax claim as proof of its validity but may offer may offer the accused's settlement statement, "I concede that I owe the back taxes," as a party opponent admission. In the Committee's view, an offer or an acceptance of a compromise, unlike a direct statement of liability, is not sufficiently probative of the accused's guilt.8

Another Code provision, § 1153.5, applies to criminal as well as civil cases. This section bans the use of an offer for a civil resolution of a complaint alleging a crime against property if the offer is made with the assistance of the prosecutor.9 Both the offer as well as the admissions made in the course of the negotiations are protected from disclosure in any subsequent proceeding.

Federal Rule of Evidence 408 differs from Evidence Code §§ 1152 and 1154 in several respects. First, the rule itself makes clear that exclusion is not required when the evidence is offered for another purpose, "such as proving a witness's bias or prejudice, negating a contention of undue delay, or proving an effort to obstruct a criminal investigation or prosecution." This result is obtained in California by applying Evidence Code § 355 which provides that when evidence is inadmissible for one purpose but admissible for another, the court may admit it for the proper purpose with the appropriate limiting instruction.

Second, Rule 408 does not include impeachment among the other permissible purposes for which settlement conference statements can be offered. Whether statements made in compromise negotiations should be admitted as prior inconsistent statements to impeach a party has been controversial. Opponents point out that the value of impeaching a party through inconsistent statements made in compromise negotiations is outweighed by the negative effect such impeachment would have on the candor required for successful settlement negotiations. As amended in 2006, Rule 408 adopts this view. It prohibits the use of statements made in settlement negotiations if offered to impeach as a prior inconsistent statement or as evidence of contradiction.10

California decisions indirectly support the federal amendment. To date, no California appellate court has approved the use of settlement conference statements to impeach a party.

Third, prior to the 2006 amendment, Rule 408 was also explicit in another important respect: exclusion was not required of "any evidence otherwise discoverable merely because it is presented in compromise negotiations."11 The 2006 amendment deleted this language as superfluous.12 Accordingly, even after the amendment, a party cannot immunize information that is germane to the case by raising it in the settlement negotiations. Thus, if the defendant admits at the settlement conference that his mechanic warned him that his brakes needed to be replaced, the plaintiff would be precluded from offering the defendant's admission to prove the mechanic's warning. The plaintiff, however, would be free to discover the mechanic's statement and to call the mechanic to the stand to repeat the warning he gave to the defendant. A plaintiff who sues in a California court should also have access to this evidence, since neither §§ 1152 nor 1154 purports to immunize the subject matter of evidence presented at the settlement conference.

The Federal Rules do not contain a rule on admissions made in the civil resolution of complaints alleging crimes against property. Neither do the Rules have a provision dealing with the admissibility of statements made in the course of mediation.

Recognizing the increasing role of mediation in resolving disputes, the California Legislature added a chapter to the Evidence Code that protects from disclosure information that is exchanged in the course of mediation. Mediation is defined as "a process in which a neutral person or persons facilitate communication between the disputants to assist them in reaching a mutually acceptable agreement." The chapter applies to all mediations except settlement conferences in civil cases and those undertaken pursuant to the Family Code.13

Unless all of the participants otherwise agree,14 "[n]o evidence of anything said or any admission made for the purpose of, in the course of, or pursuant to, a mediation or a mediation consultation is admissible or subject to discovery, and disclosure of the evidence shall not be compelled, in any arbitration, administrative adjudication, civil action, or other noncriminal proceeding in which, pursuant to law, testimony can be compelled to be given."15 Identical protection from disclosure is given to writings that are prepared for the purpose of, in the course of, or pursuant to, a mediation or a mediation consultation.16 All communications, negotiations, or settlement discussions by the participants are to remain confidential.

Evidence that is otherwise admissible or subject to discovery outside the mediation or mediation consultation may not be immunized from disclosure solely by reason of its introduction or use in the mediation or mediation consultation.17 Moreover, as has been noted, even communications protected by the mediation privilege can be disclosed if all the persons who participated in the mediation agree to do so in writing or orally.18 "Participants" include the parties, the mediator, and other nonparties, such as accountants, spouses, and employees of the parties, attending the mediation.19

Only matters disclosed during the mediation are protected from disclosure. Matters disclosed after the mediation ends are not entitled to protection.20

The mediation provisions do not diminish in any way the protection afforded by §§ 1152 and 1154 or other statutory provisions. Thus, if a communication is not protected by the mediation provisions but is within § 1152, it remains protected under this section.

§ 4.06 Humanitarian Gestures

FEDERAL RULES OF EVIDENCE

Rule 409. Offers to Pay Medical and Similar Expenses

Evidence of furnishing, promising to pay, or offering to pay medical, hospital, or similar expenses resulting from an injury is not admissible to prove liability for the injury.

<EN>---

CALIFORNIA EVIDENCE CODE

§ 1160. Admissibility of expressions of sympathy or benevolence; definitions

(a) The portion of statements, writings, or benevolent gestures expressing sympathy or a general sense of benevolence relating to the pain, suffering, or death of a person involved in an accident and made to that person or to the family of that person shall be inadmissible as evidence of an admission of liability in a civil action. A statement of fault, however, which is part of, or in addition to, any of the above shall not be inadmissible pursuant to this section.

(b) For purposes of this section:

(1) "Accident" means an occurrence resulting in injury or death to one or more persons which is not the result of willful action by a party.

(2) "Benevolent gestures" means actions which convey a sense of compassion or commiseration emanating from humane impulses.

(3) "Family" means the spouse, parent, grandparent, stepmother, stepfather, child, grandchild, brother, sister, half brother, half sister, adopted children of parent, or spouse's parents of an injured party.

<EN>---

Comparative Note. The Federal Rules and the Evidence Code protect the statements and conduct of persons who offer or furnish humanitarian aid. Rule 409 provides that "[e]vidence of furnishing, promising to pay, or offering to pay medical, hospital, or similar expenses resulting from an injury is not admissible to prove liability for the injury." Though using different language, Evidence Code § 1152(a) is to the same effect. The purpose is to encourage humanitarian gestures by removing the concern that they might be used as admissions. Neither Rule 409 nor § 1152(a) requires the objecting party to show that the humanitarian statements were made or the conduct undertaken in an attempt to compromise a claim or its amount.

California has an additional provision. Recognizing that many personal suits are prompted by anger at the defendant's failure to apologize for the injury, the California Legislature in 2000 amended the Evidence Code to reduce suits by encouraging defendants to apologize without fear their apologies might be considered admissions. Section 1160 provides that the "portion of statements, writings, or benevolent gestures expressing sympathy or a general sense of benevolence relating to the pain, suffering, or death of a person involved in an accident and made to that person or to the family of that person shall be inadmissible as evidence of an admission of liability in a civil action." Statements of fault, however, remain admissible even if part of protected statements, writings, and benevolent gestures. Accordingly, "I didn't see you coming because I was using my cell phone" would be admissible, but not the preamble, "I'm sorry you were hurt."1

§ 4.07 Pleas and Related Statements

FEDERAL RULES OF EVIDENCE

Rule 410. Pleas, Plea Discussions, and Related Statements

(a) Prohibited Uses. In a civil or criminal case, evidence of the following is not admissible against the defendant who made the plea or participated in the plea discussions:

(1) a guilty plea that was later withdrawn;

(2) a nolo contendere plea;

(3) a statement made during a proceeding on either of those pleas under Federal Rule of
Criminal Procedure 11 or a comparable state procedure; or

(4) a statement made during plea discussions with an attorney for the prosecuting authority if the discussions did not result in a guilty plea or they resulted in a later-withdrawn guilty plea.

(b) Exceptions. The court may admit a statement described in Rule 410(a)(3)or (4):

(1) in any proceeding in which another statement made during the same plea or plea discussions has been introduced, if in fairness the statements ought to be considered together; or

(2) in a criminal proceeding for perjury or false statement, if the defendant made the statement under oath, on the record, and with counsel present.

<EN>---

CALIFORNIA EVIDENCE CODE

§ 1153. Offer to plead guilty or withdrawn plea of guilty by criminal defendant

Evidence of a plea of guilty, later withdrawn, or of an offer to plead guilty to the crime charged or to any other crime, made by the defendant in a criminal action is inadmissible in any action or in any proceeding of any nature, including proceedings before agencies, commissions, boards, and tribunals.

<EN>---

Comparative Note. Prosecutors would have an easier time obtaining convictions if they could offer the jury evidence that prior to the trial the accused offered to plead guilty to the offense charged or to some lesser offense. Though such evidence would constitute an admission, Rule 410 and Evidence Code § 1153 exclude such offers in order to encourage plea bargains. Both provisions also bar the use as admissions of evidence of a guilty plea that is later withdrawn.

A key question is whether the protection extends to the statements made in connection with the offer to plead guilty or the withdrawn plea. If only the words constituting an offer were protected, then knowledgeable defendants would refrain from engaging in plea bargaining since admissions made in the course of negotiations would be admissible in the event no bargain was struck. Rule 410 answers this question by extending the protection to a statement "made during plea discussions" as well as the offer to plead guilty. Section 1153 is silent on this point but has been construed as extending to the statements made in the course of plea negotiations as well as to the offers to plead guilty.1

Another important question is whether the prosecution may use the accused's plea negotiations statements for impeachment in the event that the plea negotiations fail and the accused testifies inconsistently with his negotiation statements. Despite § 1153's broad command that evidence of an offer to plead guilty is "inadmissible in any action," People v. Crow2 holds that § 1153 does not prohibit the prosecution from using the statements for impeachment purposes. Only their use as admissions is barred.

Rule 410 provides the accused greater protection. It bars the use of plea negotiations statements against the accused without distinguishing between admissions and impeachment, a construction the U.S. Supreme Court has approved.3 The Court, however, has held that Rule 412 does not prohibit the prosecution as part of the plea bargaining process from requiring the accused to relinquish the right not be impeached by statements made during the plea negotiations.4

Section 1153 does not define the participants in plea negotiations. Offers and related statements made to prosecution attorneys qualify for protection, but so do statements to police officers if made in the course of bona fide plea negotiations.5 Rule 410 is less protective. It protects only those statements made by the accused or his lawyer to "an attorney for the prosecuting authority."

Guilty pleas, unlike offers to plead guilty and guilty pleas later withdrawn, are not protected from disclosure. Thus, if a defendant pleads guilty to a speeding violation, that plea can then be offered against the defendant as an admission by any plaintiff injured by the defendant's driving. Because that prospect may discourage criminal defendants from negotiating a plea to charges stemming from occurrences which injure others, California Penal Code § 1016(3) permits a plea of nolo contendere.6 That "plea and any admissions required by the court during any inquiry it makes as to the voluntariness of, and factual basis for, the plea may not be used against the defendant as an admission in any civil suit based upon or growing out of the act upon which the criminal prosecution is based."7 In 1982, however, that protection was limited to "cases other than those punishable as felonies"8 in order to "assist the efforts of victims of crime to obtain compensation for their injuries from the criminals who inflicted those injuries."9

Federal Rule of Evidence 410, on the other hand, continues the traditional approach. It prohibits the use of a plea of nolo contendere in any civil or criminal proceeding regardless of the grade of the offense.

§ 4.08 Liability Insurance

FEDERAL RULES OF EVIDENCE

Rule 411. Liability Insurance

Evidence that a person was or was not insured against liability is not admissible to prove whether the person acted negligently or otherwise wrongfully. But the court may admit this evidence for another purpose, such as proving a witness's bias or prejudice or proving agency, ownership, or control.

<EN>---

CALIFORNIA EVIDENCE CODE

§ 1155. Liability insurance

Evidence that a person was, at the time a harm was suffered by another, insured wholly or partially against loss arising from liability for that harm is inadmissible to prove negligence or other wrongdoing.

<EN>---

Comparative Note. Rule 411 and California Evidence Code § 1155 prohibit the use of evidence of insurance as proof of negligence or other wrongdoing. Two concerns account for the prohibition. One is that the evidence might be irrelevant because possessing liability insurance simply does not make one more or less careful on a given occasion.1 The other is the risk that the fact finder might be tempted to return a verdict against an insured defendant, regardless of the strength or weakness of the evidence of fault, because of the belief that the defendant will not have to pay the judgment from his own resources.2

If possessing liability insurance is not probative of fault, then not possessing such insurance is likewise not probative of the absence of fault. Rule 411 proceeds on this assumption. It provides that "[e]vidence that a person was or was not insured against liability is not admissible to prove whether the person acted negligently or otherwise wrongfully."3 Section 1155 does not contain a similar provision. Accordingly, in California courts the party opposing evidence of the lack of liability insurance must object on irrelevance grounds.

Evidence of liability insurance may be admissible if offered for a purpose other than to prove negligence or other wrongdoing. In the words of Rule 411, exclusion is not required when the evidence is offered for another purpose, "such as proving a witness's bias or prejudice or proving agency, ownership, or control." Even when offered for such a purpose, the trial judge may nonetheless exclude the evidence if its probative value is outweighed by the risk that the jury might misuse the evidence. If the evidence is received, upon request the opposing party is entitled to an instruction limiting the jury's consideration of the evidence to the purpose for which it was received.

§ 4.09 Other Limitations on Relevant Evidence

CALIFORNIA EVIDENCE CODE

§ 1156. Records of medical or dental study of in-hospital staff committee

(a) In-hospital medical or medical-dental staff committees of a licensed hospital may engage in research and medical or dental study for the purpose of reducing morbidity or mortality, and may make findings and recommendations relating to such purpose. Except as provided in subdivision (b), the written records of interviews, reports, statements, or memoranda of such in-hospital medical or medical-dental staff committees relating to such medical or dental studies are subject to Title 4 (commencing with Section 2016.010) of Part 4 of the Code of Civil Procedure (relating to discovery proceedings) but, subject to subdivisions (c) and (d), shall not be admitted as evidence in any action or before any administrative body, agency, or person.

(b) The disclosure, with or without the consent of the patient, of information concerning him to such in-hospital medical or medical-dental staff committee does not make unprivileged any information that would otherwise be privileged under Section 994 or 1014; but, notwithstanding Sections 994 and 1014, such information is subject to discovery under subdivision (a) except that the identity of any patient may not be discovered under subdivision (a) unless the patient consents to such disclosure.

(c) This section does not affect the admissibility in evidence of the original medical or dental records of any patient.

(d) This section does not exclude evidence which is relevant evidence in a criminal action.

§ 1156.1. Records of medical or psychiatric studies of quality assurance committees

(a) A committee established in compliance with Sections 4070 and 5624 of the Welfare and Institutions Code may engage in research and medical or psychiatric study for the purpose of reducing morbidity or mortality, and may make findings and recommendations to the county and state relating to such purpose. Except as provided in subdivision (b), the written records of interviews, reports, statements, or memoranda of such committees relating to such medical or psychiatric studies are subject to Title 4 (commencing with Section 2016.010) of Part 4 of the Code of Civil Procedure but, subject to subdivisions (c) and (d), shall not be admitted as evidence in any action or before any administrative body, agency, or person.

(b) The disclosure, with or without the consent of the patient, of information concerning him or her to such committee does not make unprivileged any information that would otherwise be privileged under Section 994 or 1014. However, notwithstanding Sections 994 and 1014, such information is subject to discovery under subdivision (a) except that the identity of any patient may not be discovered under subdivision (a) unless the patient consents to such disclosure.

(c) This section does not affect the admissibility in evidence of the original medical or psychiatric records of any patient.

(d) This section does not exclude evidence which is relevant evidence in a criminal action.

§ 1157. Proceedings and records of organized committees having responsibility of evaluation and improvement of quality of care; exceptions

(a) Neither the proceedings nor the records of organized committees of medical, medical-dental, podiatric, registered dietitian, psychological, marriage and family therapist, licensed clinical social worker, professional clinical counselor, or veterinary staffs in hospitals, or of a peer review body, as defined in Section 805 of the Business and Professions Code, having the responsibility of evaluation and improvement of the quality of care rendered in the hospital, or for that peer review body, or medical or dental review or dental hygienist review or chiropractic review or podiatric review or registered dietitian review or veterinary review or acupuncturist review committees of local medical, dental, dental hygienist, podiatric, dietetic, veterinary, acupuncture, or chiropractic societies, marriage and family therapist, licensed clinical social worker, professional clinical counselor, or psychological review committees of state or local marriage and family therapist, state or local licensed clinical social worker, professional clinical counselor, state or local psychological associations or societies having the responsibility of evaluation and improvement of the quality of care, shall be subject to discovery.

(b) Except as hereinafter provided, no person in attendance at a meeting of any of those committees shall be required to testify as to what transpired at that meeting.

(c) The prohibition relating to discovery or testimony does not apply to the statements made by any person in attendance at a meeting of any of those committees who is a party to an action or proceeding the subject matter of which was reviewed at that meeting, or to any person requesting hospital staff privileges, or in any action against an insurance carrier alleging bad faith by the carrier in refusing to accept a settlement offer within the policy limits.

(d) The prohibitions in this section do not apply to medical, dental, dental hygienist, podiatric, dietetic, psychological, marriage and family therapist, licensed clinical social worker, professional clinical counselor, veterinary, acupuncture, or chiropractic society committees that exceed 10 percent of the membership of the society, nor to any of those committees if any person serves upon the committee when his or her own conduct or practice is being reviewed.

(e) The amendments made to this section by Chapter 1081 of the Statutes of 1983, or at the 1985 portion of the 1985–86 Regular Session of the Legislature, at the 1990 portion of the 1989–90 Regular Session of the Legislature, at the 2000 portion of the 1999–2000 Regular Session of the Legislature, or at the 2011 portion of the 2011-12 Regular Session of the Legislature, do not exclude the discovery or use of relevant evidence in a criminal action.

§ 1157.6. Proceedings and records of quality assurance committees for county health facilities

Neither the proceedings nor the records of a committee established in compliance with Sections 4070 and 5624 of the Welfare and Institutions Code having the responsibility of evaluation and improvement of the quality of mental health care rendered in county operated and contracted mental health facilities shall be subject to discovery. Except as provided in this section, no person in attendance at a meeting of any such committee shall be required to testify as to what transpired thereat. The prohibition relating to discovery or testimony shall not apply to the statements made by any person in attendance at such a meeting who is a party to an action or proceeding the subject matter of which was reviewed at such meeting, or to any person requesting facility staff privileges.

§ 1159. Animal experimentation in product liability actions

(a) No evidence pertaining to live animal experimentation, including, but not limited to, injury, impact, or crash experimentation, shall be admissible in any product liability action involving a motor vehicle or vehicles.

(b) This section shall apply to cases for which a trial has not actually commenced, as described in paragraph (6) of subdivision (a) of Section 581 of the Code of Civil Procedure, on January 1, 1993.

<EN>---

Comparative Note. The California Evidence Code contains a number of limitations on the use of relevant evidence that are omitted in the Federal Rules of Evidence.

The prohibition on the use of an offer for a civil resolution of a complaint alleging a crime against property when the offer is made with the assistance of the prosecutor and the limitations on the use of evidence from mediation proceedings are discussed in § 4.05 Compromise.

Code § 1156 promotes research to reduce morbidity and mortality by in-hospital medical or medical-dental staff committees of licensed hospitals by limiting the admissibility of the written records of the interviews, reports, statements and memoranda connected with the research.

Code § 1156.1 promotes research to reduce morbidity and mortality by committees established to undertake medical or psychiatric study by limiting the admissibility of the written records of the interviews, reports, statements and memoranda connected with the research.

Code § 1157(a) applies to the proceedings and records of committees charged with evaluating and improving the quality of care rendered by a variety of health professionals, including medical doctors, dentists, and therapists. In addition to exempting the proceedings and records from discovery, subject to certain exceptions § 1157(b) provides that "no person in attendance at a meeting of any of those committees shall be required to testify as to what transpired at that meeting."

Code § 1157.6 extends § 1157's prohibitions on discovery and testimony to the proceedings and records of committees charged with evaluating and improving the quality of mental health rendered in county operated and contracted mental health facilities.

Code § 1157.7 extends § 1157's prohibitions on discovery and testimony to the proceedings and records of any committee established by a local governmental agency to monitor, evaluate, and report on the necessity, quality, and level of specialty care provided by a general acute care hospital which has been designated or recognized by the local governmental agency as qualified to render specialty care services, including trauma care.

Code § 1159 prohibits the use of evidence pertaining to live animal experimentation in any product liability action involving a motor vehicle.

§ 4.10 Major Differences Between the Federal Rules and the Evidence Code

Comparative Note. The breadth of topics covered in this chapter makes generalizations difficult. Nonetheless, when it comes to relevance and its limits, the conceptual overlap between the Rules and the Code is striking. Both define relevance in almost identical terms and vest judges with discretion to exclude otherwise admissible evidence when its probative value is substantially outweighed by similar enumerated concerns.

In addition, the Rules and the Code have similar provisions for excluding categories of relevant evidence in order to advance important policies. Subsequent remedial measures are excluded to encourage the making of repairs; offers to plead guilty and related statements are banned to promote plea bargaining; pleas of nolo contendere are excluded to encourage defendants to settle criminal cases; humanitarian gestures are promoted by eliminating the risk that they might be used as admissions; and the settlement of civil claims is encouraged by banning the use of settlement conference statements to prove the validity or invalidity of the claims.

The Rules and the Code take similar, though not identical, approaches to the admissibility of character evidence. When character is not an element of the cause of action, both posit a general rule disfavoring the use of character evidence to prove that on a given occasion a person conformed his or her conduct to a particular character trait. Both build on the Common Law exceptions that allow criminal defendants to offer evidence of their character to counter evidence of guilt and of their victims' character to disprove or diminish their culpability for the crime charged. In addition, the Rules and the Code have come to recognize new exceptions which disfavor the accused. In sexual assault cases, for example, federal and California prosecutors may now offer evidence of uncharged sexual misdeeds as proof of the accused's propensity to commit the sexual misdeed charged.

The Rules and the Code seek to protect the victims of sexual assaults through rape shield laws that limit the kind of evidence the accused may offer to prove consent or to discredit the victim as a witness. In addition, both permit the use of evidence of habit and routine practices because the evidence does not raise the concerns associated with character evidence.

But despite the overlap, some significant differences between the Rules and the Code remain. In some instances, one set of rules will contain provisions the other set does not. The Code provisions on mediation are a good example. Because of the importance of mediation as a conflict resolution tool, the Code devotes an entire chapter to rules promoting mediation. The Rules are silent on mediation. In other instances, the approach of one set of rules is superior to the other set's approach. The Rules, for example, expressly prohibit the use of a statement made in settlement negotiations if offered as a prior inconsistent statement or as evidence of contradiction. The Code says nothing about this important matter. Other differences worth highlighting include the following:

(1) Rule 401 makes clearer than Code § 210 the burden the proponent must discharge when confronted by an irrelevance objection. The proponent need only convince the judge that the proffered evidence makes the existence of any consequential fact more or less probable than the fact would be without the evidence. Though both provisions impose the same burden on the proponent of the evidence, the language of Rule 401 is superior in this respect.

(2) Neither the Code nor the Rules establishes a preference between direct and circumstantial evidence. In § 410, however, the Code at least defines direct evidence. The Rules do not have an analogous provision.

(3) Under Rule 404(a)(2), the government may, in a homicide prosecution, offer evidence of the victim's trait of peacefulness even if the accused did not first offer evidence of the victim's predisposition to engage in unprovoked attacks. So long as the accused offers evidence that the victim was the first aggressor on the occasion in question, the prosecution may offer evidence of the victim's trait of peacefulness in the form of opinion and reputation evidence. The Rule applies, however, even if other eyewitnesses testify to the fatal attack. The Code does not contain a similar provision.

(4) Rule 404(b) and Code § 1101(b) provide similar, though not identical, non-exclusive lists of permissible propositions that may be proved by seemingly inadmissible character evidence. Rule 404(b) differs from the Code in that it requires the prosecution in a criminal case to provide notice in advance of trial of its intention to offer evidence under the Rule. Pretrial notice is included to reduce surprise and promote early resolution of the issue of admissibility.

(5) Code § 1104 bans the use of evidence of a trait of a person's character with respect to care or skill to prove the quality of his or her conduct on a specified occasion. The California provision is a specific application of the general prohibition on the use of character evidence. Its value is putting the parties and the court on notice that the prohibition applies to traits of care and skill as well, especially in personal injury cases. The Federal Rules do not contain an equivalent provision.

(6) With regard to subsequent repairs, the California rule differs from the federal provision in that the state's subsequent repair doctrine does not apply in strict liability actions.

(7) Rule 408 does not include impeachment among the permissible purposes for which settlement conference statements may be offered. Whether statements made in compromise negotiations should be admitted as prior inconsistent statements to impeach a party has been controversial. Opponents point out that the value of impeaching a party through inconsistent statements made in compromise negotiations is outweighed by the negative effect such impeachment would have on the candor required for successful settlement negotiations. As amended in 2006, Rule 408 adopts this view. It prohibits the use of a statement made in settlement negotiations if offered as a prior inconsistent statement or as evidence of contradiction. The Code is silent on this point.

(8) As noted, the Code devotes an entire chapter to the admissibility of statements made in the course of mediation. There are no equivalent provisions under the Federal Rules.

(9) California has an additional provision relating to the policy of excluding evidence of humanitarian gestures. Recognizing that many personal suits are prompted by anger at the defendant's failure to apologize for the injury, the California Legislature in 2000 amended Code § 1160 to reduce suits by encouraging defendants to apologize without fear their apologies might be considered admissions.

(10) An important question is whether the protection afforded to an offer to plead guilty or a withdrawn guilty plea extends also to the statements made in connection with the offer or the withdrawn plea. Rule 410 answers this question in the affirmative by extending the protection to any statement made in the course of plea discussions as well as the offer to plead guilty. Section 1153 of the Code is silent on this point but has been construed as extending to the statements made in the course of plea negotiations as well as to the offers to plead guilty.

(11) Whether the accused should be impeached by statements made in plea discussions presents difficult choices between promoting plea bargains, on the one hand, and discouraging criminal defendants from testifying inconsistently with their prior statements, on the other. Rule 410 strikes the balance in favor of plea bargaining by prohibiting the use of plea discussion statements for impeachment unless the accused relinquishes the Rule's protection as a condition to entering into plea negotiations. Code § 1153 appears to be as broad as Rule 410 but has been construed as applying only when statements made in plea discussions are offered as admissions, and not to impeach the defendant.

(12) Code § 1153 does not define the participants in plea negotiations. Offers and related statements made to prosecuting attorneys qualify for protection, but it is less clear whether pleas participants include police officers and others who participate in bona fide plea negotiations on behalf of the prosecution. Unlike Federal Rule 410, Code § 1153 does not expressly limit bona fide plea discussions to discussions with prosecutors, such as attorneys employed by the county district attorney or the California Attorney General. Police officers and other law enforcement personnel sometimes participate in plea negotiations. The California courts, however, disagree whether police officers and others who do not represent the district attorney qualify as plea participants.

(13) Rule 410, following the traditional approach, prohibits the use of a plea of nolo contendere in any civil or criminal proceeding regardless of the grade of the offense. Section 1016(3) of the California Penal Code excludes felonies from the protection afforded to nolo contendere pleas in civil actions.

(14) If possessing liability insurance is not probative of fault, then not possessing such insurance is likewise not probative of care. Rule 411 proceeds on this assumption. It provides that evidence that a person was or was not insured against liability is not admissible upon the issue of whether the person acted negligently or otherwise wrongfully. Code § 1155 does not contain a similar provision. Accordingly, in California courts the party opposing evidence of the lack of liability insurance must object on irrelevance grounds.

(15) Code § 1153.5 bans the use of an offer for a civil resolution of a complaint alleging a crime against property if the offer is made with the assistance of the prosecutor. Both the offer as well as the admissions made in the course of the negotiations are protected from disclosure in any subsequent proceeding. The Rules do not have an equivalent provision.