Opinion ID: 1444179
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 11

Heading: Other motions for a mistrial

Text: Appellant made two other motions for a mistrial. The first was after Warden Neven testified on direct examination that appellant was associated with an Aryan prison gang. The second was after the prosecutor elicited on cross-examination of Deputy Warden Pogue that appellant had been involved with a white supremacy group. Appellant contends that evidence of his gang membership was tenuous, that the state only pursued the subject to prejudice appellant and inflame the jury, and that admission of this evidence violated his free exercise rights under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. See U.S. Const. amend. I. We conclude that the district court did not err in denying appellant's motions for a mistrial. See Lane, 110 Nev. at 1163, 881 P.2d at 1363-64. With respect to appellant's first motion for a mistrial, we conclude that Warden Neven's Aryan prison gang statement was inadvertent, and the prosecutor steered the witness away from it. The prosecutor was attempting to elicit testimony that appellant was a high risk prisoner, was associated with other high risk prisoners who had been violent in prison, and was therefore capable of violence despite the additional security measures taken for that class of prisoners. With respect to appellant's second motion for a mistrial, we conclude that defense counsel opened the door to appellant's gang affiliation and that the prosecutor's subsequent elicitation from Deputy Warden Pogue that the gang was a white supremacy group was proper. See Taylor v. State, 109 Nev. 849, 860, 858 P.2d 843, 850 (1993) (Shearing, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part) (`the introduction of inadmissible evidence by one party allows an opponent, in the court's discretion, to introduce evidence on the same issue to rebut any false impression that might have resulted from the earlier admission') (quoting United States v. Whitworth, 856 F.2d 1268, 1285 (9th Cir. 1988)).