Legal Question in Personal Injury in California

Re: admissible evidence

Can a plaintiff's prior misdemeanor criminal record be entered into evidence? Under the California Evidence Code, neither felony or misdemeanor arrests nor misdemenor convictions are admissiable. However, in my experience, judges have not always ruled in this manner. The underlying questions is, the value of such testimony vs. the prejudicial effect of allowing it into evidence. I can dream up fact situations where I believe that allowing the evidence in would be proper.

Bottom line, California's Evidence Code preludes misdemenor conviction introduction into evidence. In special circumstances a judge may allow it in depending upon the relationship between relevancy and prejudicial effect.