Opinion ID: 655552
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Evidence of the Outcome of the Preliminary Hearing

Text: 13 De Anda argues that the district court erred in excluding evidence that the state court dismissed his criminal charges at his preliminary hearing. According to its order denying the new trial motion, the district court found that this evidence was irrelevant. We will reverse such a ruling only for a clear abuse of discretion. Davis, 927 F.2d at 1484. 14 Because a dismissal at a preliminary hearing has no preclusive effect under California law, see People v. Uhlemann, 9 Cal.3d 662, 108 Cal.Rptr. 657, 666-67, 511 P.2d 609, 618-19 (1973), 6 proof of the dismissal of the criminal charges against De Anda could have been presented to the jury only if it was admissible as evidence. Under Federal Rule of Evidence 401, evidence is relevant if it has a tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence. In section 1983 actions, the existence of probable cause is a question for the jury, see Smiddy v. Varney, 665 F.2d 261, 265 (9th Cir.1981), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 829, 103 S.Ct. 65, 74 L.Ed.2d 66 (1982), and the determination of that issue depends on whether the facts and circumstances within ... the officers' knowledge and of which they had reasonably trustworthy information are sufficient in themselves to warrant a man of reasonable caution in the belief that an offense has been or is being committed. Dunaway v. New York, 442 U.S. 200, 208 n. 8, 99 S.Ct. 2248, 2254 n. 8, 60 L.Ed.2d 824 (1979) (internal punctuation omitted). Thus, to be relevant, the dismissal must make the issue of the existence of probable cause more or less likely. 15 Although the absence of sufficient cause to believe the defendant guilty of a public offense is a basis for dismissing criminal charges under California Penal Code § 871, a dismissal under this provision is not necessarily relevant to the existence of probable cause. A preliminary hearing is a post facto determination of probable cause that is concerned primarily with whether the prosecution meets its burden of proof, see generally Mills v. Superior Court, 42 Cal.3d 951, 232 Cal.Rptr. 141, 143-46, 728 P.2d 211, 213-17 (1986), and, at least in some instances, can result in a dismissal of criminal charges even though the existence of probable cause is not considered. In Heath v. Cast, 813 F.2d 254 (9th Cir.1987), we affirmed the exclusion of evidence of the dismissal of criminal charges under Federal Rule of Evidence 403, finding that the dismissal was not probative of whether the arresting officers acted with probable cause or used excessive force. Id. at 260. We noted that the criminal charges were dismissed on the plaintiff's motion and without opposition from the prosecution. Id. 16 Similarly, the dismissal of De Anda's criminal charges does not make the existence of probable cause more or less likely. De Anda's charges were apparently dismissed because certain witnesses and physical evidence, although produced in the district court, were unavailable on the day of the preliminary hearing. 7 There is an obvious difference in the evidentiary value of a dismissal for lack of probable cause based on the consideration of relevant evidence and a dismissal on procedural grounds. As in Heath, the probative value of the dismissal of the criminal charges against De Anda was dubious, and the district court acted within its discretion in excluding it.