Rule 402 RELEVANT EVIDENCE GENERALLY ADMISSIBLE; IRRELEVANT EVIDENCE INADMISSIBLE

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

Rule 402. Relevant Evidence Generally Admissible; Irrelevant Evidence Inadmissible

All relevant evidence is admissible, except as otherwise provided by the Constitution of the United States, by the Constitution of the State of Colorado, by these rules, or by other rules prescribed by the Supreme Court, or by the statutes of the State of Colorado. Evidence which is not relevant is not admissible.

ANNOTATION

Law reviews. For article, "A Deposition Primer, Part II: At the Deposition", see 11 Colo. Law. 1215 (1982). For article, "The Admissibility of Hypnotically Refreshed Testimony in Criminal Cases", see 12 Colo. Law, 600 (1983). For casenote, "People v. Quintana: How 'Probative' Is This Colorado Decision Excluding Evidence of Post-Arrest Silence?", see 56 U. Colo. L. Rev. 157 (1984). For article, "Tips for Working With Evidence in Domestic Relations Cases", see 31 Colo. Law. 87 (June 2002).

Admissibility of relevant evidence. If evidence is relevant, it is admissible, unless its prejudicial effect outweighs its probative value. People v. Ortega, 672 P.2d 215 (Colo. App. 1983).

Determination of relevance within trial court's discretion. The determination of whether proffered evidence is relevant is within the sound discretion of the trial court; and, if the evidence has probative value in determining the central issue in dispute, the trial court's decision will not be reversed unless it is shown that there was an abuse of discretion. People v. Lowe, 660 P.2d 1261 (Colo. 1983); People v. Schwartz, 678 P.2d 1000 (Colo. 1984); People v. McKeehan, 732 P.2d 1238 (Colo. App. 1986), cert. denied, 753 P.2d 243 (Colo. 1988); Cherry Creek Sch. Dist. v. Voelker, 859 P.2d 805 (Colo. 1993).

Defendant made no showing that his theory had attained the degree of reliability which would warrant its admission at trial and the determination here of whether the tendered testimony was relevant and not speculative were matters within the discretion of the trial court. People v. Wilson, 678 P.2d 1024 (Colo. App. 1983), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 843, 105 S.Ct. 148, 83 L. Ed. 2d 87 (1984).

It is within the special province and competence of the trial court to determine the relevance of evidence at trial. People v. Quintanar, 659 P.2d 710 (Colo. App. 1982).

A trial court abuses its discretion in excluding relevant evidence only if it makes a decision that is manifestly arbitrary, unreasonable, or unfair. People v. McCoy, 944 P.2d 577 (Colo. App. 1996); People v. Harris, 43 P.3d 221 (Colo. 2002).

Trial court's discretion to determine relevancy is broad. People v. Gutierrez, 1 P.3d 241 (Colo. App. 1999).

Issues concerning alleged deficiencies in the chain of custody go to the weight rather than the admissibility of evidence. People v. Gomez, 632 P.2d 586 (Colo. 1981), cert. denied, 455 U.S. 943, 102 S.Ct. 1439, 71 L. Ed. 2d 655 (1982); People v. Moltrer, 893 P.2d 1331 (Colo. App. 1994).

Evidence properly excluded where it has no direct connection with charged crime. While evidence may be relevant to some degree concerning the defendant's theory that other persons committed the crime, it is properly excluded where it has no direct connection with the crime of which the defendant is charged. People v. White, 632 P.2d 609 (Colo. App. 1981).

Admission or exclusion of evidence of an experiment rests largely in the discretion of the trial court. People v. McCombs, 629 P.2d 1088 (Colo. App. 1981).

Conditions under which an experiment is conducted are required to be substantially similar to those existing at the time of the occurrence; however, this requirement does...