Taylor v. Thunder Ex Rel. Thunder

13 P.3d 43, 116 Nev. 968, 116 Nev. Adv. Rep. 104, 2000 Nev. LEXIS 116
CourtNevada Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 22, 2000
Docket32424
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 13 P.3d 43 (Taylor v. Thunder Ex Rel. Thunder) 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
Taylor v. Thunder Ex Rel. Thunder, 13 P.3d 43, 116 Nev. 968, 116 Nev. Adv. Rep. 104, 2000 Nev. LEXIS 116 (Neb. 2000).

Opinion

*970 OPINION

By the Court,

Leavitt, J.:

This case is a civil lawsuit for damages arising from appellant’s sexual seduction of a minor. After a six-day trial, the jury returned a substantial verdict against appellant totaling nearly $250,000.00. On appeal, appellant argues that the district court erred in admitting evidence of a withdrawn guilty plea memorandum and evidence of prior sexual misconduct with a different minor. Appellant also asserts that insufficient evidence supports the jury verdict. We conclude that all of appellant’s arguments lack merit, and therefore affirm the district court’s judgment.

FACTS

Prior to the commencement of the present civil action, appellant was criminally charged with three counts of statutory sexual seduction. The alleged victim of these crimes was fourteen-year-old Naomi. After agreeing to plead guilty to one count, appellant signed a guilty plea memorandum admitting that he digitally penetrated the victim’s vagina. At the time to enter the plea, appellant changed his mind and dismissed his attorney, and the matter was set for trial. Appellant later agreed to plead nolo contendere to one count. The other two counts were dismissed.

By and through her guardian, Naomi initiated the present personal injury action against appellant for the sexual seduction. At trial, Naomi testified that appellant, among other things, penetrated her vagina with his finger and penis and performed cunnilingus on her. Afterward, appellant told Naomi that she did not need to worry about getting pregnant because he had undergone a vasectomy. Because she was scared, Naomi did not tell her mother about the incident until the next evening. Her mother immediately took her to the sheriff’s office, where she gave a description of what happened.

Sergeant Jim Steuart of the sheriff’s office suggested that Naomi place a call to appellant to confront him about not using a condom, hypothesizing that if Naomi’s account of the incident was false then appellant’s response would be one of surprise or ignorance. Naomi placed the call, with Steuart listening in, and thereafter Steuart immediately memorialized the conversation in writing, as follows:

A male voice then answered. Naomi responded, “Russ I’m scared”
Male voice — about what
*971 Naomi — you didn’t use a condom last night
Male voice — you don’t have to worry about it, there’s no problem
Male voice — I told you about it last night
Naomi — you wouldn’t lie to me
Male voice — I’m your friend
Male voice — are you coming over tonight
Naomi — no
Male voice — I’ll give you your thing this weekend.

Naomi told Steuart that the “thing” appellant referred to was a necklace appellant had promised to give to her.

Naomi’s counsel sought to call Barbara Fox-Judd to testify regarding appellant’s prior misconduct. Appellant objected and the district court conducted a hearing outside the presence of the jury. Fox-Judd testified that appellant repeatedly performed acts of cunnilingus on her from the time she was eight or nine years old until she was thirteen years old, during which time appellant was her stepfather. At the conclusion of the hearing, the district court determined that: the evidence was relevant with respect to opportunity, intent, or common plan or scheme; the prior wrongs were proven by clear and convincing evidence; and the evidence was more probative than prejudicial. Accordingly, the district court allowed the witness to testify in front of the jury. Immediately prior to her testimony, the district court instructed the jury that it was “not to consider [Fox-Judd’s] testimony in the light that the defendant acted in conformity with that testimony with respect to Naomi Thunder, but to consider that testimony only in the light of intent, common plan or scheme, and opportunity to commit the act.’ ’

Appellant testified that he did not commit any of the sexual acts described by Naomi and that he would never knowingly commit a felony. On cross-examination, Naomi’s counsel requested a hearing outside the presence of the jury and asked for leave of the court to impeach appellant with the withdrawn guilty plea memorandum, arguing that appellant ought to be confronted with his prior inconsistent statement that he had, in fact, committed a felony. Counsel further argued that appellant could then explain to the jury why he had made the statement in the guilty plea memorandum and let the jury evaluate the credibility of appellant’s testimony. The district court allowed part of the guilty plea memorandum into evidence for the purpose of impeachment as a prior inconsistent statement. The district court concluded that NRS 48.125(1) did not prevent the guilty plea memorandum from being admitted because the statute only restricted a guilty plea (or an offer to plead guilty) from being admitted in a criminal trial, not *972 a civil trial — unlike NRS 48.125(2), which restricts evidence of a nolo contendere plea (or an offer to plead nolo contendere) from being admitted in both criminal and civil trials.

The admitted portion of appellant’s withdrawn guilty plea memorandum stated, as follows:

I, Russell Taylor, Senior, did on the 10th day of May, 1994, or thereabouts, at 1100 Wildes Road, within Churchill County, Nevada, willfully and unlawfully, being over twenty-one years of age, commit an act of statutory sexual seduction with the person of a female child who was then and there under the age of sixteen years, in that I, Russell Taylor, Senior, engaged in an act of penetration of her vagina with my finger with the intent of arousing, appealing to, or gratifying the lust or passions or sexual desires of the child or myself.
I fully understand that this admission may be used against me in a court of law should I fail to abide by the terms and conditions of this agreement.

After this excerpt was read to the jury, appellant admitted that it was an accurate reading of the memorandum.

At the conclusion of the six-day trial, the jury awarded Naomi $207,000.00 in compensatory damages, consisting of the following: $1,800.00 for past medical expenses; $5,200.00 for future medical expenses; and $200,000.00 for past pain and suffering. The jury also awarded $25,000.00 in punitive damages, based on their finding that appellant was guilty of malice or oppression.

DISCUSSION

I. Admissibility of offer to plead guilty

Appellant argues that the district court committed reversible error in admitting evidence surrounding his withdrawn offer to plead guilty in the preceding criminal case.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
13 P.3d 43, 116 Nev. 968, 116 Nev. Adv. Rep. 104, 2000 Nev. LEXIS 116, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/taylor-v-thunder-ex-rel-thunder-nev-2000.