Opinion ID: 2582262
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Mario's Nightmares

Text: Over defense objection, the court permitted Yvonne Chatman to testify that after the stabbing, Mario had nightmares and would wake up screaming. Defendant contends the evidence was irrelevant. The contention fails. The trial court has wide discretion in determining relevance. ( People v. Green (1980) 27 Cal.3d 1, 19, 164 Cal.Rptr. 1, 609 P.2d 468.) The very brief testimony was not the lynchpin of the case, but did have a tendency in reason to prove . . . any disputed fact . . . of consequence to the determination of the action. (Evid.Code, § 210.) Mario, who was two and a half years old at the time of the crime, testified at trial. The jury might well have considered whether he saw and understood the events in question when determining what weight to give his testimony. The nightmare evidence was germane to the evaluation of Mario's testimony.