State v. Lipka, 817 A.2d 27, 174 Vt. 377 (Vt. 2002)
Although not explicit in its ruling, the trial court apparently based its decision to exclude the audiotape on V.R.E. 403 because it would cause "undue delay, waste of time, or needless presentation of cumulative evidence." V.R.E. 403. As noted, the State had expressed concern about the length of the audio recording and the need to redact irrelevant and potentially prejudicial statements throughout the tape. The trial court enjoys broad discretion in ruling on the admissibility of evidence under Rule 403, and this Court reviews its rulings solely for abuse of that discretion. State v. McElreavy, 157 Vt. 18, 23, 595 A.2d 1332, 1334-35 (1991). Here, we note that the trial court had the benefit of hearing both the officer's and defendant's accounts of the interview, and of measuring their relevance and potential prejudicial impact in the overall context of the trial. The trial court's judgment that the demeanor issue could be adequately addressed through redirect examination of defendant, and defendant's subsequent explanation that he was nervous and distraught during the interview, leave no basis to conclude that the court abused its discretion. Accordingly, we discern no error.
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