California Evidence Code 1106 – (a) In any civil action alleging conduct which constitutes …
(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 the plaintiff‘s sexual conduct, or any of that 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) does not apply to evidence of the plaintiff’s sexual conduct with the alleged perpetrator.
Terms Used In California Evidence Code 1106
- Action: includes a civil action and a criminal action. See California Evidence Code 105
- Civil action: includes civil proceedings. See California Evidence Code 120
- Conduct: includes all active and passive behavior, both verbal and nonverbal. See California Evidence Code 125
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Evidence: means testimony, writings, material objects, or other things presented to the senses that are offered to prove the existence or nonexistence of a fact. See California Evidence Code 140
- hearing: means the hearing at which a question under this code arises, and not some earlier or later hearing. See California Evidence Code 145
- Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
- 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. See California Evidence Code 210
- Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
(c) Notwithstanding subdivision (b), in any civil action brought pursuant to § 1708.5 of the Civil Code involving a minor and adult as described in § 1708.5.5 of the Civil Code, evidence of the plaintiff minor’s sexual conduct with the defendant adult shall not be admissible to prove consent by the plaintiff or the absence of injury to the plaintiff. Such evidence of the plaintiff’s sexual conduct may only be introduced to attack the credibility of the plaintiff in accordance with Section 783 or to prove something other than consent by the plaintiff if, upon a hearing of the court out of the presence of the jury, the defendant proves that the probative value of that evidence outweighs the prejudice to the plaintiff consistent with Section 352.
(d) 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.
(e) This section shall not be construed to make inadmissible any evidence offered to attack the credibility of the plaintiff as provided in Section 783.
(Amended by Stats. 2016, Ch. 86, Sec. 127. (SB 1171) Effective January 1, 2017.)