If you are appealing a decision that involved the trial court's use of discretion, the abuse of discretion standard is used by the appellate court in its review. Any decision that involves the judge using his or her discretion (such as whether to admit certain evidence in the trial) comes under this standard. Abuse of discretion occurs when the trial court judge makes a ruling that is arbitrary or absurd. This does not happen very often. Source: https://www.courts.ca.gov/12431.htm See Also: * "[[Substantial Evidence|Substantial evidence]]" Standard * "[[De Novo|De novo]]" Standard