OPINION
By the Court,
In this аppeal, we address whether evidence of “other crimes, wrongs or acts” may be admitted for a nonpropensity purpose other than those listed in NRS 48.045(2). Appellant Donald Lee Bigpond contends that evidence of prior acts of domestic violence is per se inadmissible under NRS 48.045(2) when it is not offered for a purpose listed in the statute. We disagree.
We hold that evidence of “other crimes, wrongs or аcts” may be admitted for a nonpropensity purpose other than those listed in NRS 48.045(2). To the extent that our prior opinions indicate that NRS 48.045(2) codifies the broad rule of exclusion adopted in
State v. McFarlin,
With respect to this case, we conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion. The evidence of prior acts of domestic violence involving the victim and defendant were relevant where the victim recanted her pretrial accusations against the defendant because the evidence placed their relationship in context and provided a possible explanation for the recantation, which assisted the jury in evaluating the victim’s credibility. The prior acts were proven by clear and convincing evidence, and the district court properly weighed the probative value against the danger of unfair prejudice, *111 giving an appropriate limiting instruction. Because the evidence was properly admitted, we affirm the judgment of conviction.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Bigpond was charged with battery constituting domestic violence, third offense within seven years, for striking his wife in the jaw with a closed fist, causing her to fall to the ground and lose consciousness. Before trial, the State filed a motion to admit evidence of prior incidents of domestic violence involving Bigpond and the victim. The State, anticipating that when the victim took the stand at trial she would recant her pretrial statements implicating Bigpond, argued that the evidence was not being offered to show Bigpond’s propensity to commit domestic violence but to explain the relationship between Bigpond and the victim and provide a possible explanation for the victim’s anticipated recantation. Bigpond argued that the evidence was inadmissible because it was not being offered for a relevant purpоse listed in NRS 48.045(2). The district court reserved judgment on the State’s motion in lim-ine and indicated that it would make its decision and hold the appropriate hearing if the victim took the stand and recanted her pretrial statements.
During direct examination, the victim recanted her previous statements to law enforcement, paramedics, and an emergency room physician that Bigpond struck her in the jaw with a closed fist and knoсked her to the ground. Consistent with its pretrial decision, the district court conducted a hearing outside the presence of the jury pursuant to
Petrocelli v. State,
Bigpond was convicted of battery constituting domestic violence, third offense within seven years. This appeal followed.
DISCUSSION
Bigpond contends that the district court abused its discretion by admitting evidence of his prior aсts of domestic violence for the purpose of explaining the relationship between himself and the victim in order to provide a possible explanation for the victim’s recantation during trial. Bigpond argues that admitting evidence for this purpose pursuant to NRS 48.045(2) is precluded by our opinion in
Rowbottom v. State,
Common law
The controversy over uncharged misconduct evidence dates bаck to the English common law and developed contemporaneously in both England and America. See Julius Stone, The Rule of Exclusion of Similar Fact Evidence: England, 46 Harv. L. Rev. 954 (1933); Julius Stone, The Rule of Exclusion of Similar Fact Evidence: America, 51 Harv. L. Rev. 988 (1938) [hereinafter Stone, Similar Fact Evidence: America]; Thomas J. Reed, Trial by Propensity: Admission of Other Criminal Acts Evidenced in Federal Criminal Trials, 50 U. Cin. L. Rev. 713 (1981). This controversy has coalesced around two divergent views. What Professor Julius Stone referred to as the “original rule” reflects a narrow rule of exclusion that excludes uncharged misconduct evidence that is only relevant to prove a defendant’s criminal disposition but allows such evidence for any other relevant purpose. See Stone, Similar Fact Evidence: America, supra, at 1004. The alternative view reflects a broad rule of exclusion in which evidence of uncharged misconduct is inadmissible unless it fits within a narrow list of exceptions. See id. at 1005.
The broad rule of exclusion, with its narrow list of exceptions, took root in America with the New York Court of Appeals’ landmark opinion by Judge Werner in
People
v.
Molineux,
This court followed that trend. Citing Molineux, we adopted the broad rule of exclusion, with a narrow list of exceptions, in our 1918 decision in State v. McFarlin:
It is the general rule that evidence of the perpetration of distinct crimes from those for which a defendant is being tried will not be considered. There are, however, exceptions to this general rule. In the well-known case of People v. Molineux, [61 N.E. 286 (N.Y. 1901),] this question was considered аt length, and it was held that, generally speaking, evidence of other crimes might be considered only when it tends to establish either (1) motive; (2) intent; (3) absence of mis *113 take or accident; (4) a common scheme or plan, embracing the commission of two or more crimes so related to each other that proof of one tends to establish the others; or (5) the identity of the person charged with the commission of the crime for which the defendant is being tried. Such is, we think, the correct rule.
Codification
The narrow rule of exclusion experienced a resurgence when the Model Code of Evidence and the Uniform Rules of Evidence were adopted in 1942 and 1953. See Edward J. Imwinkelried, Uncharged Misconduct Evidence § 2:29 (2009); 22 Charles Alan Wright et al., Federal Practice and Procedure § 5239 (1978). The narrow rule is reflected in the comment by the drafters of Uniform Rulе 55 that ‘ ‘ ‘the [exceptions] are only exemplary and not exclusive.’ ” See 22 Wright et al., supra, § 5240 (quoting the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, Handbook 193 (1953)). These model rules were the precursors to the Federal Rules of Evidence as initially proposed in 1969 and adopted in 1975. During debate on Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b), the House Judiciary Committee specifically rejected an amendment that would have modified the proposed rule to incorporate the broad exclusionary approach, explaining that the rule was “intended to place ‘greater emphasis on (the) admissibility’ of uncharged misconduct evidence.” 1 Imwinkelried, supra, § 2:31 (quoting H.R. Rep. No. 93-650 (1973), as reprinted in 1974 U.S.C.C.A.N. 7075, 7081). Although some federal circuits initially hesitated to interpret Rule 404(b) as a narrow rule of exclusion, all of the federal circuits have now interpreted it in this manner. 1
*114 In 1971, the Nevada Legislature adopted NRS 48.045(2) based on Draft Federal Rule 404. See Legislative Commission of the Legislative Counsel Bureau, A Proposed Evidence Code, Bulletin No. 90 (Nev. 1970) [hereinafter Bulletin No. 90]. As codified, the statute contains almost identical language to Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b). 2 In drafting the Nevada evidence code, the Legislature attempted to follow the proposed federal rules “as closely as possible,” deviating only where the federal provisions would have sharply curtailed then-existing Nevada law. See Hearing on S.B. 12 Before the Senate Judiciary Comm., 56th Leg. (Nev., February 10, 1971) (statement of evidence code subcommittee Chairman Close); Bulletin No. 90, supra. 3
Statutory interpretation
Whether evidence of “other crimes, wrongs or acts” may be admitted for a nonpropensity purpose other than those listed in NRS 48.045(2) is a matter of statutory interpretation. We review questions of statutory interрretation de novo.
State v. Lucero,
NRS 48.045(2) provides that evidence of “other crimes, wrongs or acts” is inadmissible to prove propensity but that it may be admissible “for other purposes, such as proof of motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident.” 4 The plain language of NRS 48.045(2), like Rule *115 404(b), follows the narrow rule of exclusion. The first sentence of NRS 48.045(2) states a general rule of exclusion that applies only when the evidence is offered to prove (1) “the character of a person” and (2) that the person “acted in conformity therewith.” See 22 Wright et al., supra, § 5239. The second sentence then explains that “evidence of other crimes may be admissible when offered for purposes that fall outside the narrow limits of the general rule.” Id. § 5240. This construction is consistent with the use of the expression “such as,” which indicates that the list of “other purposes” is illustrative rather than exhaustive. 5 Under this construction, “the traditional exceptions become simply illustrations of the kinds of use that are not prohibited by the general rule.” 6 Id. The plain language of NRS 48.045(2) thus provides that other bad act evidence is inadmissible to prove propensity but is admissible for any other purpose and provides examples of some other purposes.
Despite the plain language of NRS 48.045(2) and the national consensus on the meaning of its federal counterpart, we have been inconsistent in our characterization of the provision. At times, we have continued to apply a broad rule of exclusion by stating that relevant evidence is admissible
“only
for certain
specified
purposes,”
Theriault v. State,
It is the general rule that the prosecution may not introduce ' evidence of other criminal acts of the accused unless the evidence is substantially relevant for some other purpose than to show a probаbility that the accused committed the charged crime because of a trait of character.
Williams v. State,
These disparate lines of authority may cаuse confusion about the scope and meaning of NRS 48.045(2). Therefore, we now clarify that evidence of “other crimes, wrongs or acts” may be admitted under NRS 48.045(2) for a relevant nonpropensity purpose other than those listed in the statute. To the extent that our prior caselaw is inconsistent with this holding, it is expressly overruled.
Although we conclude that evidence of “other crimes, wrongs or acts” may be admitted for any relevant nonpropensity purpose, we reemphasize that “[a] presumption of inadmissibility attaches to all prior bad act evidence.”
Rosky v. State,
Application of NRS 48.045(2)
In this case, the district court admitted evidence of prior allegations of domestic violence following a thorough
Petrocelli
hearing and the issuance of an appropriate limiting instruction to the jury.
Mclellan
v.
State,
In deciding to admit the evidence, the district court relied on twо Hawaii cases which held that when the victim recants pretrial accusations against the defendant, evidence of prior acts of domestic violence involving the same victim and defendant may be admissible “to show the jury the context of the relationship between the victim and the defendant, where the relationship is offered as a possible explanation for the complaining witness’s recantation аt trial.”
State v. Clark,
Here, the victim’s credibility was clearly a central issue at trial because she was the only witness to the allеged incident. An emergency room physician, paramedic, and police officer all testified that the victim told them that Bigpond punched her in the jaw with a closed fist and she fell to the ground. However, during trial the victim recanted and claimed that her husband never punched her and she just made up the story because she was mad at him. Like the above cases, the victim’s prior accusations of domestic violenсe were relevant because they provide insight into the relationship and the victim’s possible reason for recanting her prior accusations, which would assist the jury in adequately assessing the victim’s credibility. See NRS 48.015 (explaining that to be relevant, the evidence must concern a “fact ... of consequence to the determination of the action”). The first Tinch factor is satisfied because the victim’s prior accusations against Bigpond were relevant and were not admitted in order to show Bigpond’s propensity to commit domestic violence but to provide a possible explanation for why the victim recanted her previous statements made to law enforcement and medical personnel.
The second Tinch factor is also satisfied. There was clear and convincing evidence that the alleged prior bad acts occurred. Big-рond previously pleaded guilty to punching the victim with a closed fist on July 16, 2009, and grabbing the victim by the hair, slapping her, and pushing her to the ground on November 1, 2009.
Finally, the district court carefully weighed the probative value of the evidence against the danger of unfair prejudice, concluding that the probative value was not substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice as required by the final Tinch factor. During the Petrocelli hearing, the district court recognized that the admission of the victim’s prior allegations of domestic violence would prejudice Bigpond but concluded that the importance of establishing the relationship between Bigpond and the victim outweighed the danger of unfair prejudice. To minimize that prejudice, the district court restricted the victim’s testimony to her prior accusations and did not admit the prior convictions. Furthermore, prior to the admission оf the evidence, the district court issued a *119 limiting instruction explaining that the evidence was only “being allowed to provide [the jury] with a context of the relationship between the witness and the defendant and to give [the jury] a possible explanation for the witness’s differing testimony in court at this time.”
We conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion because it adequately assessed the three
Tinch
factors outside the presence of the jury,
see Ledbetter v. State,
We affirm the judgment of conviction.
Hardesty and Parraguirre, JJ., concur.
Notes
See, e.g., United States v. Fosher,
In 1991, a notice requirement was added to Rule 404(b). The language of the rule was restyled in 2011. Fed. R. Evid. 404 advisory committee’s note. These changes have not been incorporated into NRS 48.045.
In codifying the Nevada evidence code, the subcommittee considered three models: (1) National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Rules: Uniform Rules of Evidence (1953); (2) California Evidence Code (1965); and (3) Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure оf the Judicial Conference of the United States, Preliminary Draft of Proposed Rules of Evidence for United States Courts and Magistrates (1969).
The full text of the provisions is as follows:
Evidence of other crimes, wrongs or acts is not admissible to prove the character of a person in order to show that the person acted in con *115 formity therewith. It may, however, be admissible for other purposes, such as proof of motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident.
See NRS 48.105(2) and NRS 48.135(2), which also use “such as” to introduce a nonexclusive list.
We note that the list of other purposes contained in NRS 48.045(2) is broader than the five purposes listed in Molineux and adopted by this court in McFarlin. For example, it contains the entirely new purpose of “opportunity.” See Thomas J. Reed, Admission of Other Criminal Act Evidence After Adoption of the Federal Rules of Evidence, 53 U. Cin. L. Rev. 113, 148 (1984) (explaining that the opportunity exception “does not seem to have appeared in any pre-[404(b)] Rules works by commentators”).