2005 Nevada Revised Statutes - Chapter 48 — Admissibility Generally

CHAPTER 48 - ADMISSIBILITY GENERALLY

NRS 48.015 Relevantevidence defined.

NRS 48.025 Relevantevidence generally admissible; irrelevant evidence inadmissible.

NRS 48.035 Exclusionof relevant evidence on grounds of prejudice, confusion or waste of time.

NRS 48.039 Testimonyof witness who previously underwent hypnosis to recall subject matter oftestimony.

NRS 48.045 Evidenceof character inadmissible to prove conduct; exceptions; other crimes.

NRS 48.055 Methodsof proving character.

NRS 48.059 Habit;routine practice.

NRS 48.061 Effectsof domestic violence.

NRS 48.069 Previoussexual conduct of victim of sexual assault: Procedure for admission of evidenceto prove victims consent.

NRS 48.071 Exclusionof evidence of address and telephone number of victim of sexual assault.

NRS 48.075 Transactionsand conversations with or actions of deceased person.

NRS 48.077 Contentsof lawfully intercepted communications.

NRS 48.095 Subsequentremedial measures.

NRS 48.105 Compromise;offers to compromise.

NRS 48.109 Closureof meeting held to further resolution of dispute; exclusion of admission,representation or statement made during mediation proceedings; confidentialityof matter discussed during mediation proceeding.

NRS 48.115 Paymentof medical and similar expenses.

NRS 48.125 Withdrawnplea of guilty or offer to plead guilty not admissible; plea of nolo contendereor offer to plead nolo contendere not admissible.

NRS 48.135 Liabilityinsurance.

_________

NRS 48.015 Relevantevidence defined. As used in this chapter,relevant evidence means evidence having any tendency to make the existence ofany fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more or lessprobable than it would be without the evidence.

(Added to NRS by 1971, 780)

NRS 48.025 Relevantevidence generally admissible; irrelevant evidence inadmissible.

1. All relevant evidence is admissible, except:

(a) As otherwise provided by this title;

(b) As limited by the Constitution of the United Statesor of the State of Nevada; or

(c) Where a statute limits the review of anadministrative determination to the record made or evidence offered before thattribunal.

2. Evidence which is not relevant is not admissible.

(Added to NRS by 1971, 780)

NRS 48.035 Exclusionof relevant evidence on grounds of prejudice, confusion or waste of time.

1. Although relevant, evidence is not admissible ifits probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfairprejudice, of confusion of the issues or of misleading the jury.

2. Although relevant, evidence may be excluded if itsprobative value is substantially outweighed by considerations of undue delay,waste of time or needless presentation of cumulative evidence.

3. Evidence of another act or crime which is soclosely related to an act in controversy or a crime charged that an ordinarywitness cannot describe the act in controversy or the crime charged withoutreferring to the other act or crime shall not be excluded, but at the requestof an interested party, a cautionary instruction shall be given explaining thereason for its admission.

(Added to NRS by 1971, 780; A 1979, 37)

NRS 48.039 Testimonyof witness who previously underwent hypnosis to recall subject matter oftestimony.

1. The testimony of a witness who previously hasundergone hypnosis to recall events that are the subject matter of thetestimony is admissible if:

(a) The witness, or the parent or guardian of thewitness if he is a minor, gave informed consent to the hypnosis;

(b) The person who induced the hypnosis is:

(1) A provider of health care;

(2) A clinical social worker who is licensedpursuant to chapter 641B of NRS; or

(3) An officer or employee or former officer oremployee of a law enforcement agency,

who istrained in forensic hypnosis and who is not otherwise currently involved in theinvestigation of a case or action in which the witness is a victim, witness ordefendant;

(c) Before the hypnosis was induced, a written recordwas made that includes, without limitation:

(1) A description of the subject matter of thehypnosis as provided by the witness; and

(2) The information that was provided to thehypnotist concerning the subject matter of the hypnosis;

(d) The entire session at which the hypnosis wasinduced was electronically recorded by audio or video recording equipment, including,without limitation, any interview that was conducted before or after thehypnosis was induced;

(e) The recording of the entire session at which thehypnosis was induced was made available by the party who produced the witnessto each party involved in the case, pursuant to the discovery procedures asprovided in NRS 174.235 to 174.295, inclusive, the Nevada Rules of CivilProcedure or the Justice Court Rules of Civil Procedure, depending upon thenature of the proceedings; and

(f) The hypnotist and the witness were the only personspresent during the session of hypnosis unless the hypnotist or a lawenforcement officer who is investigating the criminal case, if any, determinedthat it was necessary for one of the following persons to be present during thesession:

(1) A parent or guardian of a witness who is aminor; or

(2) An artist employed by a law enforcementagency.

2. The court, on its own motion or that of a party,may exclude the testimony of a person who previously has undergone hypnosis torecall events which are the subject matter of the testimony if the courtdetermines that such testimony is unreliable or is otherwise inadmissible.

3. The court shall instruct the jury to exercisecaution when considering the reliability of the testimony of a person whopreviously has undergone hypnosis to recall events that are the subject matterof the testimony.

4. The provisions of this section do not limit:

(a) The ability of a party to attack the credibility ofa witness who previously has undergone hypnosis to recall events that are thesubject matter of his testimony; or

(b) The legal grounds upon which to admit or excludethe testimony of such a witness.

5. As used in this section, provider of health carehas the meaning ascribed to it in NRS629.031.

(Added to NRS by 1997, 828)

NRS 48.045 Evidenceof character inadmissible to prove conduct; exceptions; other crimes.

1. Evidence of a persons character or a trait of hischaracter is not admissible for the purpose of proving that he acted inconformity therewith on a particular occasion, except:

(a) Evidence of his character or a trait of hischaracter offered by an accused, and similar evidence offered by theprosecution to rebut such evidence;

(b) Evidence of the character or a trait of characterof the victim of the crime offered by an accused, subject to the proceduralrequirements of NRS 48.069 whereapplicable, and similar evidence offered by the prosecution to rebut suchevidence; and

(c) Unless excluded by NRS 50.090, evidence of the character of awitness, offered to attack or support his credibility, within the limitsprovided by NRS 50.085.

2. Evidence of other crimes, wrongs or acts is notadmissible to prove the character of a person in order to show that he acted inconformity therewith. It may, however, be admissible for other purposes, suchas proof of motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge,identity, or absence of mistake or accident.

(Added to NRS by 1971, 781; A 1975, 1131)

NRS 48.055 Methodsof proving character.

1. In all cases in which evidence of character or atrait of character of a person is admissible, proof may be made by testimony asto reputation or in the form of an opinion. On cross-examination, inquiry maybe made into specific instances of conduct.

2. In cases in which character or a trait of characterof a person is an essential element of a charge, claim or defense, proof ofspecific instances of his conduct may be made on direct or cross-examination.

(Added to NRS by 1971, 781; A 1979, 25)

NRS 48.059 Habit;routine practice.

1. Evidence of the habit of a person or the routinepractice of an organization, whether corroborated or not and regardless of thepresence of eyewitnesses, is relevant to prove that the conduct of the personor organization on a particular occasion was in conformity with the habit orroutine practice.

2. Habit or routine practice may be proved bytestimony in the form of an opinion or by specific instances of conductsufficient in number to warrant a finding that the habit existed or that thepractice was routine.

(Added to NRS by 1971, 781; A 1973, 25)

NRS 48.061 Effectsof domestic violence.

1. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 2,evidence of domestic violence and expert testimony concerning the effect ofdomestic violence, including, without limitation, the effect of physical,emotional or mental abuse, on the beliefs, behavior and perception of thealleged victim of the domestic violence that is offered by the prosecution ordefense is admissible in a criminal proceeding for any relevant purpose,including, without limitation, when determining:

(a) Whether a defendant is excepted from criminalliability pursuant to subsection 7 of NRS194.010, to show the state of mind of the defendant.

(b) Whether a defendant in accordance with NRS 200.200 has killed another inself-defense, toward the establishment of the legal defense.

2. Expert testimony concerning the effect of domesticviolence may not be offered against a defendant pursuant to subsection 1 toprove the occurrence of an act which forms the basis of a criminal chargeagainst the defendant.

3. As used in this section, domestic violence meansthe commission of any act described in NRS33.018.

(Added to NRS by 1993, 1107; A 1995, 2466; 2001, 1698; 2001 Special Session,123; 2003, 74, 1479)

NRS 48.069 Previoussexual conduct of victim of sexual assault: Procedure for admission of evidenceto prove victims consent. In any prosecutionfor sexual assault or for attempt to commit or conspiracy to commit a sexualassault, if the accused desires to present evidence of any previous sexualconduct of the victim of the crime to prove the victims consent:

1. The accused must first submit to the court awritten offer of proof, accompanied by a sworn statement of the specific factsthat he expects to prove and pointing out the relevance of the facts to theissue of the victims consent.

2. If the court finds that the offer of proof issufficient, the court shall order a hearing out of the presence of the jury, ifany, and at the hearing allow the questioning of the victim regarding the offerof proof.

3. At the conclusion of the hearing, if the courtdetermines that the offered evidence:

(a) Is relevant to the issue of consent; and

(b) Is not required to be excluded under NRS 48.035,

the courtshall make an order stating what evidence may be introduced by the accused andthe nature of the questions which he is permitted to ask. The accused may thenpresent evidence or question the victim pursuant to the order.

(Added to NRS by 1975, 1131; A 1977, 1630; 1991, 125)

NRS 48.071 Exclusionof evidence of address and telephone number of victim of sexual assault.

1. In any prosecution for sexual assault, the districtattorney may, by written motion upon reasonable prior notice to the accused,move to exclude evidence of the victims address and telephone number. Thecourt may order that such evidence be excluded from the proceedings if thecourt finds that the probative value of the evidence is outweighed by thecreation of substantial danger to the victim.

2. This section does not limit the defendants rightto discover or investigate such evidence.

(Added to NRS by 1977, 1630)

NRS 48.075 Transactionsand conversations with or actions of deceased person. Evidenceis not inadmissible solely because it is evidence of transactions orconversations with or the actions of a deceased person.

(Added to NRS by 1981, 411)

NRS 48.077 Contentsof lawfully intercepted communications. Exceptas limited by this section, in addition to the matters made admissible by NRS 179.465, the contents of anycommunication lawfully intercepted under the laws of the United States or ofanother jurisdiction before, on or after July 1, 1981, if the interception tookplace within that jurisdiction, and any evidence derived from such a communication,are admissible in any action or proceeding in a court or before an administrativebody of this State, including, without limitation, the Nevada Gaming Commissionand the State Gaming Control Board. Matter otherwise privileged under thistitle does not lose its privileged character by reason of any interception.

(Added to NRS by 1981, 163)

NRS 48.095 Subsequentremedial measures.

1. When, after an event, measures are taken which, iftaken previously, would have made the event less likely to occur, evidence ofthe subsequent measures is not admissible to prove negligence or culpableconduct in connection with the event.

2. This section does not require the exclusion ofevidence of subsequent remedial measures when offered for another purpose, suchas proving ownership, control, feasibility of precautionary measures, orimpeachment.

(Added to NRS by 1971, 781)

NRS 48.105 Compromise;offers to compromise.

1. Evidence of:

(a) Furnishing or offering or promising to furnish; or

(b) Accepting or offering or promising to accept,

a valuableconsideration in compromising or attempting to compromise a claim which wasdisputed as to either validity or amount, is not admissible to prove liabilityfor or invalidity of the claim or its amount. Evidence of conduct or statementsmade in compromise negotiations is likewise not admissible.

2. This section does not require exclusion when theevidence is offered for another purpose, such as proving bias or prejudice of awitness, negativing a contention of undue delay, or proving an effort toobstruct a criminal investigation or prosecution.

(Added to NRS by 1971, 781)

NRS 48.109 Closureof meeting held to further resolution of dispute; exclusion of admission,representation or statement made during mediation proceedings; confidentialityof matter discussed during mediation proceeding.

1. A meeting held to further the resolution of a disputemay be closed at the discretion of the mediator.

2. The proceedings of the mediation session must beregarded as settlement negotiations, and no admission, representation orstatement made during the session, not otherwise discoverable or obtainable, isadmissible as evidence or subject to discovery.

3. A mediator is not subject to civil processrequiring the disclosure of any matter discussed during the mediationproceedings.

(Added to NRS by 1991, 919; A 1993, 1213)

NRS 48.115 Paymentof medical and similar expenses. Evidence offurnishing or offering or promising to pay medical, hospital or similarexpenses occasioned by an injury is not admissible to prove liability for theinjury.

(Added to NRS by 1971, 782)

NRS 48.125 Withdrawnplea of guilty or offer to plead guilty not admissible; plea of nolo contendereor offer to plead nolo contendere not admissible.

1. Evidence of a plea of guilty, later withdrawn, orof an offer to plead guilty to the crime charged or any other crime is notadmissible in a criminal proceeding involving the person who made the plea oroffer.

2. Evidence of a plea of nolo contendere or of anoffer to plead nolo contendere to the crime charged or any other crime is notadmissible in a civil or criminal proceeding involving the person who made theplea or offer.

(Added to NRS by 1971, 782; A 1995, 2466; 2003, 1479)

NRS 48.135 Liabilityinsurance.

1. Evidence that a person was or was not insuredagainst liability is not admissible upon the issue whether he acted negligentlyor otherwise wrongfully.

2. This section does not require the exclusion ofevidence of insurance against liability when it is relevant for anotherpurpose, such as proof of agency, ownership or control, or bias or prejudice ofa witness.

(Added to NRS by 1971, 782)

 

Disclaimer: These codes may not be the most recent version. Nevada may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.