Opinion ID: 2595603
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Reliability of jury verdict

Text: The State prosecuted Anderson in the alternative on all three statutory theories for DUI criminal liability: (1) operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor, and/or (2) operating a motor vehicle while having 0.10 percent or more by weight of alcohol in the blood, and/or (3) being found by measurement within 2 hours after driving or being in actual physical control of a vehicle to have 0.10 percent or more by weight of alcohol in his blood. [1] A special verdict form contained spaces for the jury to separately determine guilt under any of the three theories. During closing argument, the State told jurors that it presented no evidence in support of the second alternative and that they could not base a guilty verdict upon that theory. Despite this admonition, the jury unanimously found Anderson guilty of all three theories on the special verdict form. Anderson argues that the special findings are all unreliable because the State presented no evidence in support of the second theory. In this, he also argues that there is no way of knowing whether the jury was unanimous as to any one theory. We disagree. NRS 175.481 requires that a verdict be unanimous. In the context of alternative theories of murder, we held in Evans v. State that the Constitution does not require separate instructions or jury unanimity on the alternative theories of premeditated and felony murder . . . because actual intent to kill during the commission of a kidnapping can reasonably be considered the `moral equivalent of premeditation.' [2] Thus, under Evans and Schad v. Arizona, [3] a jury need not be unanimous as to a particular theory of culpability for a single offense to sustain a conviction. A unanimous general verdict of guilt will support a conviction so long as there is substantial evidence in support of one of the alternate theories of culpability. [4] Here, however, the adjudication of guilt was not dependent upon a general verdict based upon alternate theories of culpability. Rather, the jury was given the task of separately determining each of the statutory theories of criminality. Thus, to result in a valid conviction, it was necessary for the jury to issue a unanimous verdict as to one of the three theories. Although the jury clearly erred in finding Anderson guilty under the second theory, it still issued a unanimous verdict as to the other two. The record reflects substantial evidence supports the jury's findings on the remaining theories and appellant has not demonstrated how the erroneous finding on one theory renders the unanimous findings on the other theories unreliable. Accordingly, this error is harmless. [5] In light of the above, we reject the appellant's argument that jurors failed to achieve unanimity and that all of the verdicts are defective under Evans.