Warren v. Eighth Judicial Dist. Court of Nev.

427 P.3d 1033
CourtNevada Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 27, 2018
DocketNo. 73963
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 427 P.3d 1033 (Warren v. Eighth Judicial Dist. Court of Nev.) 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
Warren v. Eighth Judicial Dist. Court of Nev., 427 P.3d 1033 (Neb. 2018).

Opinion

By the Court, HARDESTY, J.:

In this original proceeding, we consider whether NRS 178.562(2) limits the State's options after the justice court dismisses a criminal complaint that charges felony and/or gross misdemeanor offenses such that the State can only file a motion for leave to file an information by affidavit or obtain a grand jury indictment and cannot appeal the justice court's decision to the district court. We conclude *1035that in addition to the remedies set forth in NRS 178.562(2), NRS 177.015(1)(a) authorizes the State to appeal from a justice court decision dismissing a criminal complaint charging felony and gross misdemeanor offenses because such a decision is a final judgment. Therefore, the district court had jurisdiction over the State's appeal in this case.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

The State filed a criminal complaint charging petitioner Joseph Warren, Jr., with four felony offenses and two gross misdemeanor offenses. After the preliminary hearing, the justice court dismissed the criminal complaint, determining that the State's evidence was based upon inadmissible hearsay and, as a result, the State had not demonstrated probable cause. The State then filed a motion for leave to file an information by affidavit, which was denied because the State had not met the requirements of NRS 173.035. At the same time, the State filed an appeal to the district court from the dismissal of the criminal complaint. Warren filed a motion to dismiss the State's appeal, arguing that the district court lacked jurisdiction because the only remedies available to the State upon dismissal of the charges were a motion for leave to file an information by affidavit or a grand jury indictment and that no statute allowed for the State's appeal. Determining that it had jurisdiction over the appeal pursuant to NRS 177.015(1)(a), the district court denied Warren's motion. On the merits of the appeal, the district court determined that the justice court erroneously dismissed the complaint and remanded the case.

Warren then filed this original petition for a writ of certiorari, mandamus, or prohibition challenging, among other things, the district court's jurisdiction over the appeal. This court transferred the petition to the court of appeals. See NRAP 17(b). A majority of the court of appeals determined that the district court had jurisdiction over the appeal pursuant to NRS 177.015(1)(a) and denied the petition. The dissent disagreed, observing that this court's case law had only recognized the remedies set forth in NRS 178.562(2). Warren sought this court's review of the jurisdictional issue, and we granted Warren's petition for review.1 See NRAP 40B.

DISCUSSION

"A writ of certiorari is an extraordinary remedy and the decision to entertain a petition for a writ of certiorari lies within the discretion of this court." Zamarripa v. First Judicial Dist. Court, 103 Nev. 638, 640, 747 P.2d 1386, 1387 (1987). A writ of certiorari may be granted when a lower court has exceeded its jurisdiction and there is no appeal or any plain, speedy, and adequate remedy. NRS 34.020(2) (recognizing that a writ of certiorari may be granted "when an inferior tribunal, board or officer, exercising judicial functions, has exceeded the jurisdiction of such tribunal, board or officer and there is no appeal, nor, in the judgment of the court, any plain, speedy and adequate remedy"). We conclude that Warren's petition for a writ of certiorari is appropriately before this court because his argument that the district court exceeded its jurisdiction presents an important issue relating to the district courts' appellate jurisdiction and there is no appeal or other remedy available to Warren as the district court has final appellate jurisdiction over a case arising in the justice court. Nev. Const. art. 6, § 6 ; Waugh v. Casazza, 85 Nev. 520, 521, 458 P.2d 359, 360 (1969).

Warren argues that no statute or court rule authorizes an appeal from the justice court's decision dismissing the criminal complaint. Further, relying upon NRS 178.562(2) and State v. Sixth Judicial Dist. Court (Warren), 114 Nev. 739, 964 P.2d 48 (1998) (discussing NRS 178.562(2) ), Warren argues that the only remedies available to the State upon dismissal of the charges in this case were a motion for leave to file an information by affidavit or a grand jury indictment. We disagree.

*1036NRS 177.015(1)(a) provides that the party aggrieved, whether the State or the defendant, may appeal "[t]o the district court of the county from a final judgment of the justice court." Thus, the plain language of NRS 177.015(1)(a) vests appellate jurisdiction in the district court over a final judgment of the justice court. See Walker v. Eighth Judicial Dist. Court, 120 Nev. 815, 819, 101 P.3d 787, 790 (2004) (recognizing that when interpreting a statute, we look to the statute's plain language).

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Bluebook (online)
427 P.3d 1033, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/warren-v-eighth-judicial-dist-court-of-nev-nev-2018.