> [!info] Prepared locally > Revised text and original picture are ready. WordPress save, rendered checks and publication remain to be verified. To **suppress**, in an evidence context, is to seek to prevent particular material from being used as [[Evidence|evidence]] under the applicable law. The word can have broader meanings, but a request to suppress evidence is different from permission to conceal material that must be disclosed or to remove it from public access. ## In California Family Law The legal ground for exclusion matters. [Penal Code section 1538.5](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN&sectionNum=1538.5.) addresses criminal procedures for seeking suppression of material obtained through a challenged search or seizure. It is not a general procedure that automatically governs a family-law evidence dispute. In a family-law proceeding, an [[Objection|objection]] or request to exclude material must identify an applicable evidentiary or procedural basis. For example, [[Cal. Evid. Code § 352|Evidence Code section 352]] permits the court to exclude evidence when its probative value is substantially outweighed by the specified risks of undue consumption of time, undue prejudice, confusion or misleading the jury. Simply finding evidence unfavorable does not establish that it should be excluded. Excluding evidence from consideration, sealing a court record, and limiting disclosure in discovery address different questions. The actual ruling controls what the court has prohibited or allowed. ## Example During a family-law hearing, one party objects to a large set of repetitive exhibits and asks the court to exclude some of them under the applicable evidentiary rules. The court evaluates the stated ground and makes a ruling. Filing that request does not itself exclude the exhibits or authorize either party to hide responsive documents. ![[Files/OtherFiles/Suppress.jpg]]