Opinion ID: 2570523
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: The witness's abortion

Text: During Stach's testimony on direct examination that she did not work and stayed home with the kids, she stated that she loved being pregnant. Prior to cross-examination and outside the jury's presence, the defense requested permission to impeach Stach's statement by questioning her about an abortion she had previously undergone. The district court conducted the requisite balancing test pursuant to NRS 48.035(1) between 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.