Opinion ID: 1161616
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Facts disclosed at earlier proceedings

Text: Mazzan testified at trial to the following. He moved to Reno in April 1978 and worked as a hairdresser while his wife worked in Las Vegas as a dancer. Mazzan and his friends used marijuana and cocaine, and he obtained cocaine from April Barber, a prostitute at Mustang Ranch. He became friends with Barber's boyfriend, Richard Minor, who supplied him with marijuana. Mazzan spent the evening of Wednesday, December 20, 1978, at Minor's residence. The two smoked marijuana, snorted cocaine, and taped albums. Sometime in the early morning, Mazzan tried to leave, but his car would not start. Minor let him spend the night, and he bedded down behind Minor's couch and slept. Mazzan awoke to the sound of a scuffle in the kitchen and saw Minor struggling with someone. The person left through the door, and Mazzan heard two people running and then a car driving away. Minor had blood all over him. Mazzan was confused and shocked; he stepped out the door, could not see anything, and went back inside. Minor was leaning against the wall and then collapsed and died. Mazzan left and did not report the crime because he was afraid that he would be implicated in the drug use and might be in danger from the perpetrators of the crime if they found out he knew anything. He was sure Minor was already dead, and he expected that Minor's younger brother would arrive that morning and discover Minor. When Mazzan returned home, he cleaned his shoes and washed his hands. He had his clothes laundered. When police later questioned him, he told them he had thrown away a pair of running shoes about a month earlier. The state provided evidence that that same type of running shoe had a pattern resembling bloody footprints in the kitchen at the crime scene. Minor's father, a justice of the peace, discovered his son's body on Friday, December 22, 1978, the day after the killing. On Wednesday he had gone to his son's residence. Mazzan was present, and Minor had introduced him as my friend Jack. (Mazzan was called both John and Jack.) Minor's younger brother also saw Mazzan at the residence Wednesday evening. He had met Mazzan a few times before, and Minor and Mazzan appeared to be friends. A little past midnight that same night, John Sullivan saw Mazzan at Minor's. Sullivan bought a quarter ounce of Hawaiian marijuana from Minor for $65.00 and left. Jim Shallman, a friend of Minor's, testified that Minor had traveled to Hawaii, evidently not long before his death, and returned with about two pounds of marijuana. Shallman saw Minor with $6,000.00 in cash in mid-October 1978. He had seen Mazzan with Minor a few times, and the two appeared to be friends. At the crime scene, investigators found a blanket with several cuts in it and blood on it. The residence was small, a converted garage. An investigator theorized that Minor was first attacked with a knife while lying on the couch with the blanket over him and that he then went into the kitchen toward the door and refrigerator. Minor was found on the floor near the couch. Prints left in blood by a kind of sports shoe were found on the kitchen floor and the blanket; only one print was distinct. No identifiable fingerprints were found. Most of the blood was found in the kitchen and where the body was lying. A smear of blood was later found on the inside of the driver's side window of Mazzan's car. Minor was stabbed fifteen times, including in the heart and lungs. There was no sign of forced entry to the residence. The prosecution theorized that he was killed for his money and drugs. However, other than the $65.00 received by Minor that night, there was no clear evidence of how much money or drugs Minor had the night he was killed. Two days after the murder, Mazzan flew to Las Vegas to see his wife for the holidays. Las Vegas police contacted him, informed him he was a suspect in Minor's killing, and told him he should contact the police in Reno when he returned there. He volunteered no information about Minor's death. Mazzan returned to Reno on December 26, 1978, and went to the police station the next morning around 11:30 a.m. He was questioned for about twelve hours and then arrested for murder. Mazzan first told the police that on the night in question, he had left Minor's place around midnight and did not see the murder. When told that blood had been found in his vehicle, Mazzan admitted that he had been present when Minor was killed. The police checked and found no apparent bruises on Mazzan. (Minor had been about six feet four inches tall and weighed about two hundred fifteen pounds.) Over the next few days, the police obtained a number of statements from Mazzan that showed some discrepancies, e.g., in regard to the position that he left Minor in, the shoes which he had worn at Minor's residence, and what he had done immediately after he left there. Mazzan's trial counsel, Larry McNabney, later stipulated to the voluntariness of these statements. On January 3, 1979, a week after Mazzan's arrest, a garbage worker found a bloody coat belonging to Mazzan and a purse and bloody clothes belonging to April Barber, Minor's girlfriend, in a trash can not far from Mazzan's home. A key to a lock at Minor's residence was in Barber's purse. Barber had been missing for about a month. The evidence showed that these items were placed in the trash after Mazzan had been arrested and incarcerated. On February 13, 1979, the state filed an amended information alleging that Mazzan either murdered Minor or aided and abetted in his murder. During trial, as the state prepared to rest, District Attorney Cal Dunlap moved to block any inquiry by the defense into either the police investigation of Minor's drug connections or a statement by Minor's sister. The sister had informed police that Minor had told her not long before his death that he was in danger due to his drug dealings. Dunlap argued that it was all inadmissible hearsay evidence. McNabney countered that the defense case depended on showing that after Mazzan was in custody, the police went to Ohio, Indiana, and Hawaii and continued their investigation. The defense theory was that Minor was involved with drug traffickers who murdered him and left Mazzan holding the bag. And, if we can't get into that, we might as well end the whole trial right here. The district court asked where Minor's sister was. McNabney said, I don't know; I didn't even know about this sister's statement until I saw it in the police report today. I don't know where she is. That's the first I ever knew of it. The court considered the sister's statement admissible but concluded that the fact that the police were following leads around the country was not relevant. As a result, McNabney was not able to elicit any evidence other than that the police had investigated in the Midwest after Mazzan was in custody. After the court's ruling, the state called Minor's sister, Cynthia Shelley, to testify. About two weeks before his death, Minor told her and her husband that he was afraid, that he had been involved in some sort of dealing, and he wanted to get out, and he was afraid. On cross-examination, McNabney asked Shelley who her husband was and where he was. She told him, He is outside the door. The state then called the husband, who testified that Minor was concerned that his involvement with drugs had brought him to the point where he was in trouble with the police. The state then rested. Mazzan testified in his own defense, as discussed above, and called several character witnesses who testified to his nonviolent nature. In closing argument, Dunlap dismissed the defense's suggestion that Minor was killed over some drug deal, telling the jury several times that police had uncovered no evidence of such a possibility. The jury found Mazzan guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced him to death. McNabney filed a notice of appeal and withdrew as Mazzan's counsel. The district court appointed the Washoe County Public Defender (WCPD) to represent Mazzan on appeal. In March 1981, about a year and a half after the verdict, Mazzan's new counsel, Patrick Flanagan, moved the district court for acquittal, on the basis of insufficient evidence, or for a new trial, based on newly discovered evidence that April Barber had been murdered. Barber's skeletal remains were found in November 1979 and indicated that, like Minor, she had been stabbed to death. Flanagan argued that Barber and Minor were murdered by the same persons, that Mazzan could not have murdered Barber, and thus that Mazzan had not murdered Minor. In April 1981, Flanagan moved to inspect and copy any records the state had of Minor's drug dealings. At a hearing on the motion in May 1981, Flanagan argued that the identity of Minor's drug contacts was critical to determining who murdered Minor and Barber. Dunlap opposed the motion. He asserted that the matter of Minor's drug dealings was thoroughly litigated and argued to the jury. He also asserted that the evidence regarding Minor's drug dealings contained nothing exculpatory. Dunlap told the district court that ordinarily he would not object to discovery of the material; however, if Mazzan's appeal in this case was successful, he intended to charge Mazzan with Barber's murder and therefore did not want to allow a fishing expedition through his files. Pursuant to the district court's request, Dunlap said that he would provide his entire file to the court for in camera review. In March 1982, at the start of the hearing on Mazzan's motions for acquittal or a new trial, the district court announced that it had considered a series of police reports provided by Dunlap and found nothing exculpatory. During the hearing on Mazzan's motions, Reno Police Department Detective Teglia testified. Flanagan asked Teglia if during his Midwest investigation he had developed any suspects that might have been involved in Minor's murder. Teglia replied, No. The court denied the motions. The court stated that although it had thought Mazzan was innocent, it did not feel the evidence justified advising the jury to acquit. It concluded that the new evidence of Barber's remains did not exculpate Mazzan. On appeal, this court affirmed Mazzan's conviction; however, it reversed the sentence because of ineffective assistance of counsel at the penalty hearing. Mazzan I, 100 Nev. 74, 675 P.2d 409. The second penalty hearing occurred in February 1985. McNabney again represented Mazzan. The jury returned a verdict of death, finding the murder occurred in the course of burglary and robbery. McNabney filed a notice of appeal and a motion to withdraw as counsel. The district court again appointed the WCPD to represent Mazzan on appeal. This court affirmed the death sentence. Mazzan II, 103 Nev. 69, 733 P.2d 850. Mazzan filed a petition for post-conviction relief in May 1987. In December 1987, the district court dismissed it, and on appeal, this court affirmed. Mazzan III, 105 Nev. 745, 783 P.2d 430. In June 1988, Mazzan filed for post-conviction habeas relief. After the district court summarily denied relief, this court remanded to allow Mazzan an opportunity to show cause for his failure to raise his claims earlier. In February 1995, the district court again denied the petition. This court affirmed in 1996. Mazzan V, 112 Nev. 838, 921 P.2d 920. Mazzan petitioned for rehearing, asserting that he had discovered that the state had withheld exculpatory information from him before his trial. In denying rehearing, this court stated: If appellant's allegations are true, then it appears that appellant is entitled to a new trial. Appellant's allegations require factual determinations which are best addressed in the district court. If true, appellant's claim that the state withheld exculpatory police reports demonstrates good cause and prejudice to excuse a procedural bar to the filing of a new petition for a writ of habeas corpus. We conclude that appellant's remedy is to now file a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the Second Judicial District Court. Mazzan v. State, 112 Nev. 838, 921 P.2d 920 (Order Denying Rehearing, November 8, 1996) (citations omitted).