State v. Ritter

Citations

• 2024 ND 142

Syllabus

A criminal judgment entered after a jury conviction of sexual assault is reversed because the district court abused its discretion by admitting video of a forensic interview without weighing the probative value against the prejudicial effect. A court is vested with discretion to decide whether a party has opened the door for the admission of otherwise inadmissible evidence, but opening the door for the admission of otherwise inadmissible evidence is not unlimited. A court must first consider whether and to what extent the door has been opened regarding a particular topic. When the door has been opened, the court must also consider, under N.D.R.Ev. 403, whether the probative value of the evidence is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading the jury.