Opinion ID: 1035458
Heading Depth: 6
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Judicial Discretion of

Text: Trial Courts As the foregoing discussion revealed, a common approach taken by many courts in other jurisdictions to the use of demonstrative exhibits in jury deliberations is to allow such use at the trial judge’s discretion. This approach is consistent with Nebraska jurisprudence, which frequently addresses evidentiary matters to the trial judge’s discretion. [5] In Nebraska, “[a] trial judge has broad discretion over the conduct of a trial.”46 It is the judge’s statutory duty to “exercise reasonable control over the mode and order of interrogating witnesses and presenting evidence.”47 The judge also possesses “inherent powers” that “include the broad discretion to make discovery and evidentiary rulings conducive to the conduct of a fair and orderly trial.”48 [6] In practice, a trial judge is called upon to make many decisions during the course of a trial based upon this broad discretion. The Nebraska Evidence Rules explicitly place many evidentiary matters at the discretion of the trial judge.49 And the exercise of discretion “is implicit in decisions to admit evidence based on relevancy or admissibility.”50 When the Nebraska Evidence Rules commit the evidentiary question at issue to the discretion of the trial court, an appellate court reviews the admissibility of evidence for an abuse of 45 See People v. Manley, supra note 18. 46 Connelly v. City of Omaha, 278 Neb. 311, 319, 769 N.W.2d 394, 400 (2009). 47 § 27-611(1). 48 Schindler v. Walker, 256 Neb. 767, 779, 592 N.W.2d 912, 920 (1999). 49 See, e.g., Neb. Evid. R. 104(1), Neb. Rev. Stat. § 27-104(1) (Reissue 2008); Neb. Evid. R. 106(2), Neb. Rev. Stat. § 27-106(2) (Reissue 2008); Neb. Evid. R. 201(3), Neb. Rev. Stat. § 27-201(3) (Reissue 2008); § 27-611(2); Neb. Evid. R. 705, Neb. Rev. Stat. § 27-705 (Reissue 2008). 50 Sack v. Castillo, 278 Neb. 156, 164, 768 N.W.2d 429, 436 (2009). Nebraska Advance Sheets STATE v. PANGBORN 377 Cite as 286 Neb. 363 discretion.51 In addition, a trial judge is given the discretion to determine when a sufficient basis has been laid for lay opinion testimony,52 when photographs can be admitted into evidence,53 and when demonstrative exhibits can be used in trial.54 When it comes to matters regarding the jury, under Nebraska case law, the trial judge has discretion to allow the jury to reexamine evidence during deliberations.55 Under this rule, “trial courts have broad discretion in allowing the jury to have unlimited access to properly received exhibits that constitute substantive evidence of the defendant’s guilt.”56 [7] In accordance with this broad discretion already accorded to trial courts, particularly in evidentiary matters, we believe that the submission of demonstrative exhibits to the jury during deliberations should be left to the discretion of the trial court. Accordingly, we hold that a trial judge may exercise his or her broad judicial discretion to allow or disallow the use of demonstrative exhibits during jury deliberations.