Court Opinion

ID: 9560838
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 17:57:26.503406+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:13:14.844986
License: Public Domain

Rose, J.,
dissenting:
The district court realized the impropriety and damage that evidence of appellant Rice’s prior criminal convictions would do to his defense. A motion in limine was granted precluding the State from making any reference to the fact that Rice was on parole when the alleged crimes were committed. This, of course, would include reference to parole and probation officers supervising Rice.
Once such an order is entered, the prosecution has the obligation to admonish his law enforcement witnesses not to mention that the defendant was being supervised by parole and probation officers, as well as not referring to it himself or attempting to elicit such testimony. Either the prosecutor in this case did not adequately warn the law enforcement witnesses, or the law enforcement witnesses deliberately ignored the warning.
The officer that responded to the burglary call was asked on the stand if she relayed the information over the radio about Rice’s likely whereabouts. She answered, “No,” and then volunteered *46that what had happened was that when she had completed the crime report, “two Parole and Probation officers came to the apartment” and informed her of Rice’s probable location. The defense raised the appropriate objection and requested a mistrial, on the grounds that the witness’s response was a clear violation of the court’s order. Later, a second officer stated that he went to the scene where the furniture was found “to assist the Parole and Probation officers,” and that he entered the residence “when P&P invited [him] in.” The defense attorney again objected and moved for a mistrial, which the court denied.
These statements unquestionably violated the district court’s order. Therefore, in order to affirm this conviction, we must be convinced that these errors were harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. See Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18 (1967).
Rice was charged with grand larceny and possession of stolen property. He was accused of stealing and having in his possession furniture and personal items belonging to his roommate, which Rice moved to another location while the roommate was out of town. Rice’s defense was that he was not stealing anything and that he had moved all of the furniture when he was forced to move from the apartment. The jury convicted Rice of possession of stolen property but acquitted him on the charge of grand larceny.
This was a reasonably close case, depending largely on the credibility of the accused. See Big Pond v. State, 101 Nev. 1, 692 P.2d 1288 (1985). The fact that Rice was on parole and obviously had committed other crimes may have undermined the credibility of his defense and led some jurors to return a conviction on one of the two counts. Accordingly, I would reverse and remand this case for a new trial.