Fifth Amendment Invocation Inadmissible
In Vipperman v. State, 96 Nev. 592 (1980), the Court held that in light of United States v. Hale, 422 U.S. 171 (1975), it was reversible error for the district attorney to repeatedly make reference to Defendant’s post-arrest silence in failing to reveal his alibi to the police. Defendant was arrested at the scene and [...]
Keeping The Door Closed On Bad Acts Character Evidence
Character Evidence Generally NRS 48.045(1) governs the admissibility of character evidence in a criminal trial: 1. Evidence of a person’s character or a trait of his character is not admissible for the purpose of proving that he acted in conformity therewith on a particular occasion, except: (a) Evidence of his character or a trait of [...]
Sealed Records Do Not Seal An Accuser’s Recollection
In Zana v. State, prior bad acts of the defendant were admitted through the testimony of witnesses having first hand knowledge of the defendant’s acts. The court explained, When a court orders a record sealed, “[a]ll proceedings recounted in the record are deemed never to have occurred.” NRS 179.285. This fiction permits the subject of [...]
Entrapment
The elements of an entrapment defense are that (1) a government agent induced the defendant to commit a crime, and (2) he was not predisposed to commit. United States v. Thomas, 134 F.3d 975, 978 (9th Cir. 1998). “Where the Government has induced an individual to break the law and the defense of entrapment is [...]
