Opinion ID: 1120826
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Prior convictions of the witness

Text: A witness may be impeached by evidence of a criminal conviction if: (1) the crime was punishable by death or imprisonment for over a year; (2) the conviction occurred less than ten years after the dates specified under NRS 50.095(2); (3) the conviction has not been pardoned; and (4) the conviction was not the result of a juvenile adjudication. NRS 50.095. Moreover, a certified copy of a conviction is prima facie evidence of the conviction. Id. Felger was convicted in Florida of Grand Larceny in 1987 and placed on two years' probation. Crawford sought to impeach Felger by inquiring about his prior felony conviction. Crawford's foundation for the question was a certified copy of Felger's criminal record. The trial court refused to allow Crawford's counsel to question Felger about the conviction on the grounds that the certified record was not sufficiently reliable. The trial court ruled that an exemplified copy of the conviction was required. It is true that a court may not rely upon the exemplified record, either to impeach or enhance punishment, when a constitutional infirmity appears from the face of the record. Scott v. State, 97 Nev. 318, 319, 630 P.2d 257, 258 (1981) (quoting Anglin v. State, 86 Nev. 70, 73, 464 P.2d 504, 506 (1970)). And it is the burden of the party disclaiming admissibility to show that a document is constitutionally infirm. The State has not met this burden. The certified document clearly indicates that Felger was charged with grand larceny, treated as an adult, convicted and sentenced to two years probation. The State simply did not rebut Crawford's prima facie evidence, and Crawford's counsel should have been allowed to examine Felger on the point and introduce the certified evidence of a felony conviction in the event of a denial by Felger. [3] The error in excluding Crawford's impeachment evidence was not harmless. Felger was the only witness to the alleged crimes and the jury, by its verdict, amply demonstrated its concern for Felger's credibility. There was no physical evidence of an actual sexual assault by Crawford. Felger, having been terminated by Crawford, also had a motive for seeking revenge. If the jury had been made aware of Felger's criminal record, it may have concluded that Felger was altogether untrustworthy and undeserving of belief as to any of the alleged happenings. Finally, Crawford complains that the district court erred in submitting supplemental instructions to the jury after it had already commenced its deliberations. The instructions were given by the trial court in response to a message from the foreman of the jury inquiring whether the three counts involving charges of sexual assault by anal penetration could be changed to attempt. In this case we agree that the court erred in giving the instructions. Before addressing the basis for the error, we note that both the district court and the district attorney erroneously concluded that Attempt Sexual Assault is a lesser included offense to the crime of Sexual Assault. In so concluding, the district court relied on NRS 175.501. [4] It is seen that the statute differentiates between a lesser included offense and an attempt by referring to both in the disjunctive. Moreover, we have held on numerous occasions that the test for determining whether a crime is a lesser included offense is whether the offense in question cannot be committed without committing the lesser offense. See, e.g., Meador v. State, 101 Nev. 765, 769, 711 P.2d 852, 855 (1985); Moore v. State, 100 Nev. 698, 700, 692 P.2d 1278, 1279 (1984). It is generally held that attempt offenses consist of three elements: (1) the intent to commit the crime; (2) performance of some act toward the commission of the crime; and (3) the failure to consummate its commission. See, 22 C.J.S. Criminal Law § 116 (1989) citing cases and LaFave & Scott Substantive Criminal Law Vol. 2, § 6.2. In Nevada, the statutory definition of an attempt crime is [a]n act done with intent to commit a crime, and tending but failing to accomplish it. NRS 193.330. Because an element of the crime of attempt is the failure to accomplish it, an attempt crime may not be a lesser included offense of the completed crime. In Nevada, however, the State may charge a defendant with the completed crime and nevertheless obtain a conviction for attempt as provided by NRS 175.501. This is a just principle despite the absence of the third element of the discrete crime of attempt (failure to consummate), because in a generic sense, every consummated crime is necessarily preceded by an attempt to commit the crime. Despite the right of the trier of fact to convict on attempt where the State has only charged the completed offense, it may not do so unless there is evidence to support an attempt. See State v. Chance, 3 N.C. App. 459, 165 S.E.2d 31, 32 (1969). In the instant case, the only evidence was, from the defendant, that no sexual conduct occurred between the two men and, from Felger, that three acts of sexual assault occurred in the form of forcible anal intercourse. The jury disbelieved the complaining witness regarding the consummated crimes and thereafter sought and received instructions for a lesser crime, attempt sexual assault, concerning which there was no evidence upon which to base a conviction. Therefore, the district court erred in instructing the jury on the lesser crime of attempt sexual assault concerning the three counts of sexual assault because there was no evidence of record to support such instructions.