Court Opinion

ID: 9547184
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 17:43:00.76075+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:17:25.543775
License: Public Domain

Springer, J.,
dissenting:
The majority opinion recognizes that “[wjhether (and under what conditions) an individual can exert force against a police officer in the defense of others is a question of first impression in Nevada.” In other words, when Mr. Batson was defending against these criminal charges neither he nor his prosecutor (nor this court) knew what the law was relating to the sole defense which Batson offered in this case.
Now, of course, we all know what the law is. It has been declared by the court in this case: “[A] person may defend another only where that person has witnessed a police officer’s unlawful and excessive use of force, and only where the individual being ‘rescued’ is facing imminent and serious bodily harm at the hands of the police officer.” Mr. Batson was most certainly engaged in the act of “rescuing” his wife from what he saw as the use of unlawful and excessive force which he believed was causing serious bodily harm to his wife. The problem with this conviction is that no matter what the jury believed, it could not have, under the instructions given in this case, conscientiously brought in a verdict of acquittal. The jury simply was not instructed on the meaning or definition of Mr. Batson’s affirmative defense. I do not believe that Mr. Batson should stand convicted of this serious crime until he has had the opportunity to have a jury judge him in a manner that is based on the law of Nevada. At this writing he has been denied that right.
This is not by any means a clear case of guilt. Mr. Batson’s wife claims that she was the subject of an unprovoked attack by Officer Tygard. Officer Tygard testified that he was merely trying *679to calm down an hysterical woman who was “crying and flailing her arms around.” The officer claims that the physical force he used upon Mr. Batson’s wife was minimal, merely a “light touch.” The Batsons claim that Officer Tygard had “wrenched” Mrs. Batson’s arm up behind her back and had placed his arm around her throat from behind. Whether the jury believed that the officer only “touched” Mrs. Batson or dangerously wrenched her arm in back of her and had a throat hold on her that kept her from breathing does not matter in this case because the jury was given no definition or explanation of the conditions under which Mr. Batson was legally entitled to defend his wife. The jury was merely instructed on the burden of proof and told that “the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did not act . . . in defense of another.” The jury was not told what “defense of another” was or when a person had the right to defend one’s loved one against unlawful and excessive police violence. Mr. Batson did not get a fair trial because the jury was never instructed on his theory of the case.
As stated in the majority opinion, the Batsons tell a story of an annoyed police officer who over-reacted to Mrs. Batson’s emotional state. Mr. Batson claims that he saw his wife in great pain, that she was “being choked unconscious,” that her “arm was twisted up behind her back beyond the point of normal use,” and that she was “screaming for help.” Almost any husband would have tried to do something to come to the rescue of his wife under these circumstances. Even, however, if the jury believed everything that the Batsons told them, a conscientious jury had no basis for acquitting Mr. Batson under the instructions given to this jury.
I do not see how the majority can affirm a conviction by a jury that did not know the law. All Mr. Batson asks for is a fair trial in which a jury is correctly told of the essence of his defense, namely, under what conditions Mr. Batson was entitled to come to the rescue of his wife in this case. I would reverse the judgment of conviction and remand the case for a new trial before a correctly-instructed jury.