Opinion ID: 161063
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: the admission of prior bad act evidence.

Text: 34 Elliott's final claim for habeas relief is that he was denied his Fourteenth Amendment due process right by the trial court's improper admission of prior bad act evidence. Federal habeas corpus is limited in reviewing a question regarding the admissibility of evidence. In order for habeas corpus relief to be granted by a federal court based on a state court evidentiary ruling, the rulings must 'render the trial so fundamentally unfair as to constitute a denial of federal constitutional rights.' Vigil v. Tansy, 917 F.2d 1277, 1280 (10th Cir.1990)(quoting Brinlee v. Crisp, 608 F.2d 839, 850 (10th Cir.1979), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 1100 (1991)). Trial courts have broad discretion regarding the admissibility of testimony. United States v. Davis, 40 F.3d 1069, 1073 (10th Cir.1994). Our review of the record reveals nothing constitutionally infirm in the trial court's decision to admit this evidence. 35