Opinion ID: 1160486
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 14

Heading: Great risk of death to more than one person

Text: Evans contends that the evidence did not warrant an instruction based upon NRS 200.033(3) because (1) the murders were not the result of indiscriminate gunfire; and (2) each of the victims was an intended victim. We disagree. This court has explained: It is of no consequence to multiple victims of a violent crime whether their deaths or injuries result from a weapon directed at each victim specifically or by random shootings or the use of a scattergun or other weapon of broader impact.... Obviously, one who intends to commit multiple murders within a closely related time and place engages in a course of conduct inherently hazardous to the life of more than one person. Hogan v. Warden, 109 Nev. 952, 959, 860 P.2d 710, 715 (1993) (emphasis added). Accordingly, we have upheld this aggravator in cases where the perpetrator shot his victim in the presence of other people. See, e.g., id. at 957, 860 P.2d at 714; Moran v. State, 103 Nev. 138, 143, 734 P.2d 712, 715 (1987). In the instant case, Evans discharged his weapon in an apartment occupied by six people. The fact that he used a firearm to intentionally commit multiple murders within a closely related time and place, constitutes a course of conduct inherently hazardous to the life of more than one person as contemplated by NRS 200.033(3). See Hogan, 109 Nev. at 959, 860 P.2d at 715.