Alward v. State

912 P.2d 243, 112 Nev. 141, 66 A.L.R. 5th 763, 1996 Nev. LEXIS 24
CourtNevada Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 29, 1996
Docket24994
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 912 P.2d 243 (Alward v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nevada Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Alward v. State, 912 P.2d 243, 112 Nev. 141, 66 A.L.R. 5th 763, 1996 Nev. LEXIS 24 (Neb. 1996).

Opinions

[144]*144OPINION

By the Court,

Shearing, J.:

Appellant David Thomas Alward appeals from the district court’s denial of his motion for a new trial and from the judgment of conviction. Alward raises numerous contentions on appeal, including whether: (1) the State concealed its theory of the case, (2) the State violated NRS 173.045(2) by listing numerous witnesses, and only calling a few of those witnesses, (3) evidence pertaining to Alward’s character was improperly introduced, (4) autopsy photographs numbered twenty and twenty-one were improperly admitted, (5) a compilation of portions of “home videos” was improperly admitted, (6) the prosecutor committed misconduct, (7) the district court erred in failing to instruct the jury on the voluntariness of Alward’s post-Miranda statements, and (8) juror misconduct occurred. We determine that these claims are without merit.

However, we conclude that certain evidence obtained in violation of Alward’s rights under the Fourth and Fifth Amendments of the United States Constitution and Article 1, sections 8 and 18 of the Nevada Constitution was erroneously admitted. Therefore, we reverse the judgment of conviction and remand the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

FACTS

On February 25, 1993, at approximately 5:00 p.m., appellant David Thomas Alward (Alward) flagged down a car carrying mineworkers near the Sand Mountain turnoff on Highway 50, east of Fallon. Alward told them that his girlfriend Kristina Marie Baxter (Baxter) had shot and killed herself with a .22 caliber handgun. Other workers arrived shortly thereafter in a truck equipped with a telephone, called for help, and waited with Alward until help arrived.

Sergeant Leonard Bogdanowicz and Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Brian Jorgensen were the first officers to arrive. The officers asked Alward what happened, and Alward told them that he and his girlfriend Baxter were camping at Sand Mountain, that [145]*145they had argued, and that he went for a walk, heard a shot, and ran back to the tent. Alward repeatedly told Trooper Jorgensen that he did not want to be left alone. Trooper Jorgensen stayed with Alward while Sergeant Bogdanowicz went to look at the campsite.

Trooper Jorgensen asked Alward if he was armed. Alward replied that he was not and oifered to submit to a search for weapons. The trooper conducted a pat-down search. Alward then waited in the patrol car with the trooper. While talking with the trooper in the patrol car, Alward stated that he did not know what happened to the gun that Baxter used to kill herself. Unbeknownst to Alward, Trooper Jorgensen tape-recorded their conversation.

Bogdanowicz’s inspection of the campsite shortly after arriving at Sand Mountain revealed a tent that was zipped closed and a vehicle parked southwest of the tent. He noticed a bullet hole in the side of the tent with blonde hairs hanging from the hole. Bogdanowicz unzipped the tent and saw Baxter lying on the floor with a .38 caliber double action revolver in her left hand, her middle finger inside the trigger guard but behind the trigger. He stepped into the tent to verify that she had no pulse. The ambulance crew arrived, entered the tent, and checked Baxter for life signs. Photographs were taken of the body, which was then removed. A single bullet wound was present on the body, entering below the chin on the left side of the neck and exiting at the top of the head on the right side.

Upon returning to the patrol car, Sergeant Bogdanowicz, assisted by Trooper Jorgensen, “bagged” Alward’s hands1 in order to later perform an “atomic absorption” test for the presence of residue from firing a gun. Investigator Steuart, who had since arrived, instructed Sergeant Bogdanowicz to transport Alward to the Sheriff’s department to be interviewed. The sergeant testified that, en route, Alward “was just talking to me.”

Once at the Sheriff’s department, Investigator James Wood conducted the “atomic absorption” test.2 Wood testified later that he did not inform Alward that he did not have to submit to the test. Wood testified that “I asked him if he would work with me on it, and he said yeah.” Wood interviewed Alward as he conducted the test. The interview was videotaped by a hidden cam[146]*146era. Wood prohibited Alward from making a telephone call and from washing his hands before the test was completed.

After approximately forty-five minutes of interrogation, Wood told Alward, “First thing I want you to do, now I don’t want you to take this wrong because we’re just not too sure what’s going on yet, is ... I want to read you your rights, okay?” Wood read Alward the Miranda3 warnings, and then told him, “You can answer questions and stop at any point in time,” to which Alward replied, “I don’t want to stop. I want to get this over.” Another officer, Investigator Greg Nelson, then entered the room. Wood and Nelson continued to question Alward, then left him alone in the interrogation room for ten minutes. When they returned, Nelson told Alward that a counselor was coming to speak with him. Wood introduced the counselor to Alward, saying, “She’s the counselor that I told you about. . . . I’m going to leave you two alone to talk for a little while.” A videotape recorded the interview with the “mental health” counselor through a special mirror in the interrogation room.

After the counselor left, Wood and Nelson reminded Alward that he had been read the Miranda warnings and began questioning him again. Over time, Alward altered his account of how Baxter died, eventually telling the investigators that he and Baxter argued in the tent, that he left the tent to shoot at a can to blow off steam, returned, threw the gun down on the sleeping bag, and watched Baxter pick it up and hold it to her head. Alward told the investigators that he tried to wrest the gun away from her, and it went off, killing her. Nelson told Alward that he was not going to be arrested, but that he would be “held” for his own protection. Alward was confined to jail on a “mental health hold” and was arrested pursuant to a warrant in the early morning hours of February 26, 1993. In all, Alward was interrogated at the Sheriff’s department for four to five hours.

At approximately 5:30 p.m. on February 25, 1993, Investigators James Steuart and Daryl Horsley arrived to inspect the crime scene. As they approached the tent, Steuart and Horsley observed what appeared to be a single bullet hole in the side of the tent with a strand of hair hanging from it. Horsley collected the hairs hanging from the hole on the outside of the tent, which appeared to match the decedent’s hair. From the inside of the tent, Horsley collected the .38 revolver, Baxter’s eyeglasses, and her red notebook. These items were in plain view inside the tent. Steuart and Horsley left the site at approximately 11:00 p.m., zipped the tent closed, and called in other officers to guard the area overnight.

Horsley testified later that, on the following morning, February [147]*14726, 1993, there was slight snowfall on the ground.

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Bluebook (online)
912 P.2d 243, 112 Nev. 141, 66 A.L.R. 5th 763, 1996 Nev. LEXIS 24, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/alward-v-state-nev-1996.