Opinion ID: 885236
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Proper Rebuttal

Text: ¶ 19 Hart first contends that the District Court erred in admitting Shandel's rebuttal testimony because it was not proper rebuttal testimony. Hart maintains that he did not open the door to this testimony nor did he raise a new matter in his testimony. The State asserts that Hart raised the issue of who owned the cattle prod, to what use the cattle prod was previously put, and how it came to be in Shandel's house for the first time during his testimony. ¶ 20 We have stated that a district court has wide discretion in determining the scope and extent of re-examination as to new matters brought out on cross-examination. State v. Veis, 1998 MT 162, ¶ 19, 289 Mont. 450, ¶ 19, 962 P.2d 1153, ¶ 19. As with a district court's determination of the scope and extent of redirect examination, we will review a district court's admission of rebuttal testimony to determine whether the district court abused its discretion. Rebuttal testimony is proper only if it tends to counteract a new matter offered by the adverse party. State v. Daniels (1984), 210 Mont. 1, 10, 682 P.2d 173, 178. ¶ 21 The District Court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the State's rebuttal testimony. Shandel's rebuttal testimony tended to counteract a new matter offered by Hart. The new matter offered by Hart was that Shandel owned the cattle prod and used it to train her dogs. During his direct examination, Hart testified that the first time he observed the cattle prod was when he saw it on Shandel's dining table. During the State's cross-examination, Hart further testified that he did not own the cattle prod, that he saw the cattle prod at Shandel's house about six months to a year prior to the incident, and that he thought Shandel had it in case her dogs became aggressive. ¶ 22 Hart maintains that he did not offer this new matter because it was raised during the State's cross-examination and not during his direct testimony. Hart's contention is incorrect. Hart offered this new matter during his direct testimony when he testified that the first time he saw the cattle prod was six months to a year ago on Shandel's dining room table. During the State's cross-examination, the prosecutor questioned Hart about this new matter. In response to the State's question about whether he thought there was anything unusual about Shandel having a cattle prod on her dining room table for the past six months, Hart stated, I just thought it was in case one of these [sic] dogs got mean or something. This new matter was offered by Hart. The fact that it was more fully explored by the State during its cross-examination of Hart is irrelevant. ¶ 23 Lastly, Shandel's testimony tended to counteract this new matter raised by Hart. Shandel testified that Hart owned the cattle prod and that he told her that he used it to prevent people from catching him shoplifting. Therefore, we conclude that the District Court did not abuse its discretion when it admitted the State's rebuttal testimony.