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Collman v. State8/23/2000
case in which the death penalty is not sought, the parties may by stipulation waive the separate penalty hearing . . . ."). Thus, I conclude that based on the erroneous jury instruction alone, reversal is warranted in this matter.
To compound matters, I believe that the trial court improperly excluded relevant, admissible evidence. One of Collman's defenses was that Stach was the abuser and killer of Damian. This included specific evidence of Stach slapping Damian across the face with her hand hard enough to draw blood and across the buttocks with a spatula, beating Damian across the hands and over his body with a wooden spoon, and Stach bragging that she gave Damian a very noticeable black eye for misbehaving. Despite Collman's defense, the State put forth great effort to show that the bite marks that could be identified on Damian's body were inflicted by Collman. One dental expert was called by the State to testify that the bite marks matched Collman's teeth. Collman countered by presenting three expert witnesses who testified that the bite marks were not Collman's and that the bite mark evidence was inconclusive. Accordingly, whether there were any bite marks, let alone who inflicted them, were central issues at trial.
To bolster his defense that Stach inflicted the bite marks, Collman attempted to introduce evidence that Stach was interested in vampirism and the occult. This evidence included items of vampire literature, two dots tattooed on Stach's neck to resemble a vampire bite, and the fact that Stach had given her son a name that closely resembled the child devil's designation in a popular movie. Collman alleged that this evidence was probative because, in a matter where two people were accused of biting another, it was more probable that the biting was done by someone who was involved in vampirism and the occult.
The State, however, argued against admission of this evidence alleging that it was irrelevant and that Stach had recently rejected her vampire practices and beliefs. The district court agreed, and no evidence of Stach's vampire proclivities was admitted into evidence. Normally we permit the district court substantial discretion in determining what constitutes relevant evidence, but we have also held that the district court's exercise of its discretion must not prohibit a defendant from presenting his or her full defense. See Stinnet v. State, 106 Nev. 192, 196, 789 P.2d 579, 582 (1990); Vincent v. State, 97 Nev. 169, 170, 625 P.2d 1172, 1173 (1981). Moreover, a defendant in a death penalty case is generally afforded greater latitude in the presentation of evidence. See U.S. v. Stevens, 935 F.2d 1380, 1404-05 (3rd Cir. 1991). With these principles in mind, I believe that the vampire propensities of Stach should have been received into evidence, and that the district court erred in not permitting Collman to present this evidence.
Further, the evidence of Stach's interest in vampirism and the occult at the time Damian was being abused could have affected the jury's finding of torture as an aggravating factor during the penalty phase of Collman's trial. Such evidence may well have led the jury, or certain of its members, to conclude that Stach was more likely the one who inflicted the bite marks on Damian, especially in light of Stach's guilty plea for child neglect. Thus, the jury may ultimately have concluded that the aggravating factor of torture could not be found beyond a reasonable doubt. This would then leave one aggravating factor against six mitigating factors, with one of the mitigating factors being that Collman did not intend to kill Damian. Accordingly, I believe that the decision to impose the death penalty may well have been different had Col
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