Evidence Code §§ 210, 350 and 352: Relevance

Every text message offered in a California court has to be relevant, and relevance is a low bar: under Evidence Code § 210 the message need only have "any tendency in reason" to prove or disprove a disputed fact. The harder question for message evidence is usually § 352, which lets the court exclude a relevant message, or a long thread, when its value is outweighed by the time it would take or the prejudice it would cause.

The statutes

"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.

Cal. Evid. Code § 210.

No evidence is admissible except relevant evidence.

Cal. Evid. Code § 350.

The court in its discretion may exclude evidence if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the probability that its admission will (a) necessitate undue consumption of time or (b) create substantial danger of undue prejudice, of confusing the issues, or of misleading the jury.

Cal. Evid. Code § 352.

What they mean for text messages

Relevance rarely keeps a text out. A message that bears on any disputed fact, or on a witness's credibility, clears § 210. The practical work is in § 352, and it cuts both ways for message evidence. On one side, a party who offers a thousand-message thread to prove one point invites an "undue consumption of time" objection; produce the whole thread for completeness, but designate the messages that matter. On the other, a party who offers a single cropped screenshot invites the argument that the missing context is misleading, and § 352 is one of the tools the court uses to deal with that.

A collection that captures the full conversation with timestamps lets you do both: show the court the whole record while pointing to the specific messages, and answer any claim that context was left out. See Text message forensics.

Related sections

§ 250 writing · § 1200 hearsay · § 1400–1401 authentication · Hub

Frequently asked questions

What makes a text message relevant?

Under § 210, any tendency in reason to prove or disprove a disputed fact of consequence, including a fact about a witness's credibility.

Can a judge exclude a relevant text message?

Yes. Section 352 gives the court discretion to exclude relevant evidence whose probative value is substantially outweighed by undue time, undue prejudice, confusion of the issues or misleading the jury.

Should I offer the whole conversation or just the important messages?

Offer the whole conversation so completeness can't be challenged, and designate the messages you rely on so the court isn't asked to read everything.