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Collman v. State8/23/2000
en probative value and danger of unfair prejudice. The court concluded that the information about Stach's abortion was a collateral matter and the minimal value of it was "overwhelmingly outweighed" by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusing the issues, and misleading the jury.
Collman contends that the district court abused its discretion and permitted Stach to "lie with impunity" about her feelings toward pregnancy. We disagree.
NRS 50.085(3) permits impeaching a witness on cross-examination with questions about specific acts as long as the impeachment pertains to truthfulness or untruthfulness and no extrinsic evidence is used. Impeachment on a collateral matter is not allowed. McKee v. State, 112 Nev. 642, 647, 917 P.2d 940, 943 (1996).
The district court was correct that whether or not Stach once had an abortion is collateral to the issue of who killed Damian. It was also correct that any probative value the evidence might have was substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusing the issues, and misleading the jury. We conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in disallowing impeachment on this question.
The witness's alleged lack of remorse over the victim's death
The State presented evidence of Collman's lack of remorse through testimony that Collman propositioned Stach for sexual relations around the time of Damian's funeral. Stach testified that she had refused Collman's advances because she was too emotionally distraught over Damian's death. In response, the defense wanted to present evidence of Stach's lack of remorse through her alleged sexual conduct shortly after Damian's death. Specifically, the defense wanted to present evidence that Stach had allegedly propositioned Kim Colon for sex and had allegedly had a sexual affair with Ana Flores. The district court conducted an evidentiary hearing to determine whether these prior acts were admissible.
At the evidentiary hearing, Collman's parents each testified as to an alleged incident occurring between Flores and Stach on January 21, 1996. Further, Kim Colon testified that while Stach was temporarily living with her in February 1996, Stach propositioned her. The district court denied Collman's motion, concluding that the information was irrelevant, prejudicial, and incredible.
Collman argues that the district court abused its discretion by excluding this evidence. See Daly, 99 Nev. at 567, 665 P.2d at 801 (holding that the trial court has the discretion to admit or exclude evidence). We conclude that evidence regarding Stach's lack of remorse was relevant to Collman's defense that Stach was the real killer. Because the district court admitted evidence that Collman lacked remorse over Damian's death, Stach's lack of remorse was equally relevant. Therefore, the district court incorrectly concluded that the evidence was irrelevant.
Nevertheless, our review of the record reveals that Collman's allegation of Stach's sexual conduct was not proven by even a preponderance of the evidence, let alone clear and convincing evidence. The record reflects that the testimony of Collman's parents was inconsistent and implausible and that Kim Colon had animosity toward Stach. Kim Colon further admitted that she had previously lied to a police officer who interviewed her and that she would lie to protect herself. Accordingly, the district court did not abuse its discretion by excluding such evidence.
III. Evidence of other acts by appellant
Collman claims that evidence that he had been transferred at work was improperly admitted as character evidence. To reiterate, in order to admit evidence of a per
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