OPINION By the Court, SILVER , J. : Appellant Judy Palmieri was criminally charged after a search of her residence revealed several violations of the Clark County Code's provisions for the health and welfare of animals. In obtaining the warrant to search Palmieri's residence, respondents Dawn Stockman and Clark County relied in part on a tip from an informant who, Palmieri later alleged, provided a false identity when she filed a complaint against Palmieri. After Palmieri obtained the...
OPINION By the Court, TAO , J. : The instant appeal arises from allegations of attorney misconduct in a products liability trial involving swimming pool filters. After the jury rendered a verdict in favor of the manufacturer, the plaintiff filed a post-trial motion seeking a new trial based upon alleged misconduct committed by the manufacturer's attorney. The district court denied the motion, but failed to make the detailed findings required by the Nevada Supreme Court. The Nevada...
OPINION By the Court, TAO , J. : Under Nevada law, a defendant commits the crime of burglary when he or she enters a building with the intent to commit a predicate crime inside the building. The question raised in this appeal is whether NRS 193.0145, NRS 205.060(1), and NRS 205.060(5), which define the acts that can constitute an entry into a building for purposes of the burglary statute, encompass selling stolen property through the retractable sliding tray of a pawn shop's drive-...
OPINION PER CURIAM : This matter arises from a personal injury action initiated by appellants following a motor vehicle accident in which their vehicle was rear-ended by a semitrailer truck driven and owned by respondents. A jury trial of appellants' claims resulted in a verdict in respondents' favor, and the district court later denied appellants' motion for a new trial. The district court further awarded respondents attorney fees and costs, the latter of which included an award of expert...
OPINION By the Court, SILVER , J. : Appellant Dominic Cassinelli pleaded guilty to coercion and preventing or dissuading a person from testifying. The guilty plea resulted from allegations made by Cassinelli's long-time girlfriend that he had sexually abused her. Cassinelli requested the district court to defer sentencing and assign him to a treatment program for alcohol abuse under NRS Chapter 458 rather than impose a term of incarceration. The primary legal issue before this court is...
OPINION By the Court, TAO , J. : Appellant Tabuta Johnson was convicted of various criminal offenses following a trial, during which the jury was permitted to hear testimony regarding an out-of-court "show-up" identification and the victims identified him in court as the perpetrator of the offenses. In the show-up, Johnson was handcuffed, placed in front of a police car, and illuminated with a spotlight to be viewed by witnesses who then identified him as the perpetrator of the crimes....
OPINION By the Court, TAO , J. : Appellant Noel Gonzales was convicted of multiple felonies following a jury trial, and part of the evidence introduced against him was his tape-recorded confession to the crimes during a custodial police interrogation. Because Gonzales claims to be a non-native English speaker, he asks us in this appeal to adopt the test set forth by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in United States v. Garibay, 143 F.3d 534 , 538 (9th Cir.1998),...
OPINION By the Court, GIBBONS , C.J. : This case involves the enforceability of a divorce settlement agreement in the face of a claim that the agreement distributes property belonging to a third party. At issue here is the district court's denial of appellant's motion to set aside the parties' settlement agreement, and join his sister to the underlying divorce proceeding, because she claimed an interest in property that was treated as community property in the settlement agreement. Under...
OPINION By the Court, SILVER , J. : When a juror is biased against a party, that juror must be struck from the jury. In this appeal, we consider whether the district court erred in declining to strike an empaneled juror whose background experience implied bias but who asserted he could be impartial. We also consider the district court's decisions to invite challenges for cause with the juror present and to allow a newly discovered document to be entered into evidence and testified to on...
OPINION By the Court, TAO , J. : In this appeal, we explore the relationship between Rule 15(a) and Rule 16(b) of the Nevada Rules of Civil Procedure (NRCP), both of which govern the procedures for seeking leave to amend pleadings in a civil action. Under NRCP 15(a), a party should be granted leave to amend a pleading "when justice so requires" and the proposed amendment is not futile. However, when a party seeks to amend a pleading after the deadline previously set for seeking such...
OPINION By the Court, SILVER , J. : In this appeal, we consider whether evidence presented at trial was sufficient to support a jury verdict finding appellant Miguel Guitron guilty of incest and sexual assault with a minor under the age of 14. Additionally, we must determine whether the district court erred by denying Guitron's motion to admit evidence of the victim's prior sexual knowledge, and clarify the procedure for the admission of such evidence. We also consider whether the...
OPINION By the Court, TAO , J. : When a criminal defendant stands convicted of two or more felony criminal offenses and has already been sentenced to a term of imprisonment for one of those offenses, NRS 176.035(1) expressly permits a district court to order that the sentence for the second offense be imposed either concurrently or consecutively to the first sentence. In this appeal, appellant Jimmy D. Pitmon asserts that NRS 176.035(1) violates the Due Process Clause of the United...
