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Due Process – Right to Present Defense – Generally: Limited to Relevant Evidence

State v. John W. Campbell, 2006 WI 99, on certification
For Campbell: Charles B. Vetzner, SPD, Madison Appellate

Issue/Holding:

¶33      The Sixth Amendment and Due Process Clause right to present a defense requires that a defendant be allowed to introduce relevant evidence, subject to reasonable restrictions. …

¶34      The right to present a defense does not require that a defendant be allowed to present irrelevant evidence. …

¶35      In this case, before Campbell can collaterally attack the family court’s custody order for fraud, it must appear that Campbell’s collateral attack, if successful, would tend to negate an element of a crime or raise an affirmative defense. In other words, the evidence adduced by the collateral attack must be relevant.

 

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