Opinion ID: 2615564
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Failure to request a Petrocelli hearing

Text: McNelton argues that trial counsel were ineffective for failing to request a hearing pursuant to Petrocelli v. State, 101 Nev. 46, 692 P.2d 503 (1985), and failing to seek to exclude evidence concerning his arrest for possession of firearms. In his opening statement, the prosecutor said that during a search of McNelton's house, McNelton told LVMPD Officer Raymond Berni that he had a gun in the house and Berni impounded the gun. The prosecutor also said that Berni took a picture of McNelton. The defense did not object to these statements. Berni subsequently testified that on February 24, 1989, he was dispatched to 1237 Hart Street, the house McNelton was living in, because shots were fired from the residence. McNelton and another man gave Berni permission to search the house, and Berni found a shotgun and a pistol on the master bedroom floor. Berni identified a photograph of McNelton taken the day of the search as a Clark County Detention Center (CCDC) photograph; this testimony was stricken. However, the photograph, which had a piece of tape covering part of it indicating that it was taken at the CCDC, was apparently admitted into evidence. The trial judge then asked Berni what date the photograph was taken. Berni replied, The date of the arrest. This testimony was not stricken. After the next witness testified and outside the presence of the jury, defense counsel moved for a mistrial on the ground that it was highly prejudicial for the jury to learn that McNelton was possibly arrested in February. The prosecutor stated that he had not wanted any information to come out about an arrest or the CCDC. In the argument on the motion, it came out that the judge had erroneously believed that one of the weapons that Berni found during the search was similar to the murder weapon. Despite this misunderstanding, the judge denied the motion. The judge agreed to admonish the jury with respect to Berni's testimony if the defense so requested, but the defense chose not to. The defense subsequently renewed the motion for a mistrial. The judge again denied the motion, concluding that McNelton had not suffered any prejudice. At the evidentiary hearing on the petition, the district court determined that a Petrocelli hearing should have been held. The court concluded that the trial judge should not have allowed evidence of the police response to the shots fired complaint because the guns involved had nothing to do with the gun used in the killing and that the trial judge misunderstood this. The court also concluded that although the photograph was relevant because it was included in a photographic lineup used to identify McNelton, testimony that the photograph was taken at the CCDC was properly stricken. The court further concluded that testimony that the photograph was taken the date McNelton was arrested should have been excluded, but that any prejudice resulting from this was slight considering the overwhelming evidence against him. Overall, the court concluded that the outcome of the trial would not have been affected even if the improper evidence had been excluded. McNelton argues that had trial counsel insisted on a Petrocelli hearing prior to the introduction of Berni's testimony, the judge would have known that neither of the guns found at the house was the murder weapon and the jury would not have learned that McNelton was arrested for possessing guns. McNelton argues that admission of the evidence was not harmless because it damaged his credibility and led the jury to disbelieve his alibi defense. We conclude that a Petrocelli hearing should have been held and evidence of the police response excluded. Prior to admitting evidence of a prior bad act pursuant to NRS 48.045(2), the district court is required to conduct a hearing on the record outside the presence of the jury and determine that: (1) the incident is relevant to the crime charged; (2) the act is proven by clear and convincing evidence; and (3) the probative value of the evidence is not substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice. [1] Tinch v. State, 113 Nev. 1170, 1176, 946 P.2d 1061, 1064-65 (1997); Petrocelli, 101 Nev. at 51-52, 692 P.2d at 507-08; see NRS 48.035(1). The CCDC photograph is relevant because it was used as part of a photographic lineup for witnesses. However, evidence that McNelton was arrested the day Berni searched the house and that guns were found in the house is not relevant and therefore not admissible pursuant to NRS 48.045(2). The district court's failure to hold a Petrocelli hearing does not necessarily require reversal of the conviction. Reversal is not necessary if: (1) the record is sufficient to determine that the evidence is admissible under Tinch; or (2) the result would have been the same if the trial court had not admitted the evidence. Qualls v. State, 114 Nev. 900, 903-04, 961 P.2d 765, 767 (1998). As discussed above, the evidence is not admissible under Tinch. Thus, we view Berni's testimony about the police response in light of all the evidence presented at trial to determine if the result would have been the same if the trial court had not admitted the evidence. Substantial evidence was presented against McNelton, namely the testimony of three witnesses, Andre and Linda Lee and Leroy Wilson, who witnessed McNelton shoot Glass. The evidence in support of McNelton's alibi defense was not as convincing. Randolph Lee, for whom McNelton worked from April through June 1989 in California as a laborer, testified that McNelton never missed work and never took time off to go to Las Vegas. However, Lee did not know if McNelton worked on May 13, 1989 (the day of the shooting), and did not keep any records. Further, Lee's testimony that McNelton never missed work to go to Las Vegas was undermined by the subsequent defense stipulation that McNelton was in Las Vegas on Monday, April 10, 1989, through Wednesday, April 12, 1989. Another of McNelton's former employers, Elmore Hearon, testified that McNelton worked for him in California for one year cleaning carpets beginning in February 1989. Hearon had time cards that he had initialed which showed that McNelton worked for him on May 13, 1989, from 5:00 to 9:30 p.m. However, the prosecutor called the validity of the time cards into question, arguing in rebuttal closing argument that the time cards were all initialed in the same ink even though Hearon claimed to have initialed them each day when the employees left work. McNelton's wife Wanda testified that on the day of the shooting, McNelton dropped her off at her friend Judy Lacy's house in Los Angeles. She and Lacy later went to a party where she met up with McNelton. At the end of the evening, McNelton dropped her off at Lacy's house, and he spent the night at a friend's house. The following morning, McNelton and Wanda returned to their house in Lancaster, California. Wanda's testimony was called into question during the state's rebuttal case. Richard Crotsley, a homicide detective for the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), testified that when he interviewed Wanda in September of 1993, she said that she did not remember what happened on May 13, 1989, because of an old head injury. She also said that her memory was not good. Wanda never mentioned the party to Crotsley. Lacy did not testify. We conclude that the result of the trial would have been the same if the court had not admitted Berni's testimony about the police response to the shots fired call. Accordingly, the district court's failure to hold a Petrocelli hearing where one was warranted does not mandate reversal of McNelton's conviction. Thus, McNelton was not prejudiced by his counsel's failure to request a Petrocelli hearing, and therefore counsel were not ineffective.