State v. Second Judicial Dist. Court of State

431 P.3d 47
CourtNevada Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 6, 2018
DocketNo. 72456
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 431 P.3d 47 (State v. Second Judicial Dist. Court of 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
State v. Second Judicial Dist. Court of State, 431 P.3d 47 (Neb. 2018).

Opinion

By the Court, STIGLICH, J.:

In Artiga-Morales v. State , this court held that it was not reversible error for a district *49court to deny a defendant's motion to compel the disclosure of veniremember background information developed by the prosecution. 130 Nev. 795, 798-99, 335 P.3d 179, 181 (2014). This petition raises a related issue: whether a district court acted without authority in granting a motion to compel the disclosure of prosecution-gathered criminal histories of veniremembers. We hold that the district court has authority to order the State to share criminal history information obtained from databases to which the defense did not have access. We therefore deny the State's petition.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Francisco Ojeda awaits trial for murder in the Second Judicial District Court. In a pretrial motion, he sought an order compelling the State to disclose the criminal histories of veniremembers before jury selection. Ojeda alleged-and the State did not dispute-that courts in the Second Judicial District release a list of veniremembers to both parties several days before jury selection commences. Ojeda further alleged-and again the State did not dispute-that the State using government databases then accesses criminal histories for those veniremembers that are not available to defendants. Ojeda contended that the resulting disparity in information would put him at a disadvantage during jury selection. The State disputed this point, claiming that Ojeda would not be disadvantaged because he could obtain equivalent information either from commercial databases or through voir dire.

The district court granted Ojeda's motion. In particular, the district court ordered the State to "disclose the criminal histories the State gathers, if any, for potential venire members" to the district court on the Friday before trial, so that the court could then provide that information to Ojeda. The district court grounded its authority to order disclosure in NRS 179A.100(7)(j) (2015),1 which requires "[r]ecords of criminal history [to] be disseminated by an agency of criminal justice" to persons authorized by "court order." The district court further explained that "it believes in the fundamental right to fair play," and that "[a]llowing only the State to use the criminal histories of potential jurors creates a disparity."

The State filed the instant petition for a writ of prohibition or mandamus, arguing that the district court did not have the authority to compel the disclosure of the veniremembers' criminal history records.

DISCUSSION

We exercise our discretion to consider the State's petition

The decision to consider a writ of prohibition or mandamus lies within the sole discretion of this court. Smith v. Eighth Judicial Dist. Court, 107 Nev. 674, 677, 818 P.2d 849, 851 (1991). As an extraordinary remedy, writ relief is generally available only when no "adequate and speedy" legal remedy exists, Cote H. v. Eighth Judicial Dist. Court, 124 Nev. 36, 39, 175 P.3d 906, 908 (2008). However, this court has exercised its discretion to intervene to resolve "a question of first impression that arises with some frequency," in "the interests of sound judicial economy and administration." Id. at 39-40, 175 P.3d at 908. A writ of prohibition is the proper remedy to restrain a district judge from acting "without or in excess of its jurisdiction." Smith , 107 Nev. at 677, 818 P.2d at 851. Mandamus is the proper remedy "to control a manifest abuse or arbitrary or capricious exercise of discretion." State v. Eighth Judicial Dist. Court (Armstrong), 127 Nev. 927, 931, 267 P.3d 777, 779 (2011).

Here, the State has no remedy in law. Whether Ojeda is acquitted or convicted, the State will not have the right to appeal. NRS 177.015(3). Moreover, as both parties agree, the departments in the Second Judicial District Court have adopted differing approaches to the issue of when to order disclosure of veniremember criminal histories.

*50Considering the State's petition is therefore in "the interests of sound judicial economy and administration," Cote H., 124 Nev. at 40, 175 P.3d at 908, we exercise our discretion to consider the State's petition.

A district court has the authority to compel the State to disclose veniremember criminal histories

The State argues that "the district court had no statutory, constitutional, or other authoritative basis to order the State to divulge its work product regarding the jury venire." We disagree.

The State is correct that the United States Constitution does not require the State to disclose veniremember criminal histories-we held as much in Artiga-Morales , 130 Nev. at 798-99, 335 P.3d at 181. In that case, Humberto Artiga-Morales challenged his conviction on the basis that the district court had denied his pretrial motion for the prosecutor to disclose veniremember "information gathered by means unavailable to the defense." Id. at 796, 335 P.3d at 180.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
431 P.3d 47, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-second-judicial-dist-court-of-state-nev-2018.