Las Vegas Criminal Defense Blog

This week, Nevada’s highest court determined that toy pistols may not be considered “deadly weapons” for the purpose of enhanced sentencing. In a unanimous opinion, Chief Justice James Hardesty explained, “no rational trier of fact could have found beyond a reasonable doubt that the toy pellet gun used in this case was a deadly weapon” since toy guns are incapable of firing a metal projectile like real guns.

This ruling overturns part of Durand E. Berry’s convictions for robbery with the use of a deadly weapon and burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon in Las Vegas. In 2006, Berry allegedly held up a Las Vegas payday loan store by holding a toy pistol to an employee’s neck and telling her that she wouldn’t get hurt as long as she cooperated.

Although Berry’s enhanced sentencing convictions for robbery with the use of a deadly weapon and burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon in Las Vegas were overturned, the Nevada Supreme Court did find that Berry’s behavior regarding the loan store worker met the elements for open and gross lewdness.

Las Vegas Metro reports that the crime index total has dropped more than twenty-five percent from last year. This takes into account crimes such as thefts, robberies, burglaries, and aggravated assaults in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, though, sexual assault in Las Vegas has risen slightly.

For the overall positive report card, Metro credits community involvement and “good old-fashioned police work.” Metro is hopeful that the numbers for sexual assault in Las Vegas will follow suit and decrease soon. As Deputy Chief Gary Schofield explained, "One victim of a rape is one too many. One victim of a homicide is one too many. But we have made significant strides to make this a safer place to live.”

If you live in or around Las Vegas, you can search for crimes that have recently been confirmed in your neighborhood at Las Vegas Metro’s CrimeView website.

Back in May, Governor Jim Gibbons signed into law Assembly Bill 164, which significantly increases punishment for domestic violence battery in Las Vegas that involves strangulation. Prior to this law, a first offense for battery DV with strangulation was just a misdemeanor with a maximum six months in jail, but it’s now a felony, carrying up to ten years in state prison and a $15,000 fine.

Since AB 164 took effect on July 1 of this year, Las Vegas Metro has arrested nearly a person a day for battery domestic violence in Las Vegas with strangulation. According to some reports, it’s ten times more probable that a person will kill his partner if he’s already attempted to strangle the partner in the past.

Las Vegas typically has 20,000 DV cases a year, and a third of all homicides stem from domestic violence. Las Vegas Metro reports that more than sixty percent of attempted murders were accomplished by strangulation. Furthermore, fifteen percent of all DV homicides within Metro’s jurisdiction were done by strangulation between partners.

At this time, only ten or so other states have laws related specifically to strangulation.

Eugene Nunnery, a twenty-nine year old who was convicted of first-degree murder, among other charges, for the 2006 killing of a drug dealer who swindled him, will not be put to death.

A jury at Clark County District Court had been deliberating for ten hours over whether Nunnery should be sentenced to the death penalty, life in prison without parole, life in prison with the possibility of parole, or a forty-to-one-hundred-year prison sentence. Yesterday, the jury revealed they were deadlocked.

District Judge Elissa Cadish at Clark County District Court announced that she will impose a life sentence without the possibility of parole on Nunnery tomorrow.

On Saturday, Las Vegas Metro and the Nevada Highway Patrol set up a sobriety checkpoint at Sahara Avenue and Valley View Boulevard between seven p.m. and three a.m. Over the course of these eight hours, police checked more than 4,700 vehicles and arrested eleven motorists for charges of DUI of alcohol or drugs.

If you’re pulled over by a cop checking for DUIs, you may be asked to perform field sobriety tests, and you’re required to submit to a breath or blood test. You’re automatically considered to be driving under the influence in Nevada if your blood alcohol content or breath alcohol level is .08 or above.

The penalties for a first conviction of driving under the influence in Nevada are just a misdemeanor, carrying two days to six months in jail or community service. In addition, you may be fined up to $1,000 and ordered to attend DUI School and a victim impact panel. Your license may be suspended as well. Subsequent convictions carry harsher punishments.

This weekend’s sobriety checkpoint in Las Vegas was coordinated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and received part of its funding by a Nevada Department of Public Safety traffic safety grant.

This week, seventeen-year-old Barron Hamm was indicted by a Clark County grand jury for murder and other charges. He’s accused of shooting fourteen-year-old Chaparral High School student Jared Flemming at a birthday party back in May.

In general, first-degree murder in Nevada comprises instances where the murder was deliberate or accomplished while carrying out another felony such as robbery, burglary, sexual assault and kidnapping. First-degree murder in Nevada is a category A felony, carrying a possible death penalty, life in prison with possibility of parole after twenty years, or fifty years in prison with the possibility of parole after twenty years.

Hamm is currently incarcerated at Clark County Detention Center without bail. His arraignment is scheduled for July 29th.

Alex Kopystenski has been charged with one count of felony child endangerment in Las Vegas this week after his five-year-old son Giovanni accidentally shot himself in the head with Kopystenski’s gun.

On Monday, father and son (and a friend of the father’s) drove to a Walgreens to fill a prescription. While they were at the drive-thru window, Giovanni took his father's gun, which was allegedly on the front seat's center console, and pulled the trigger. Kopystenski and his friend rushed Giovanni to Spring Valley Hospital, where he died early Tuesday morning.

Kopystenski was booked at Clark County Detention Center, where he was released on $3,000 bail. Child endangerment in Las Vegas can be a category B felony, carrying two to twenty years in state prison.

Yesterday, North Las Vegas police officer Benjamin Cordova was arrested and taken to the North Las Vegas Jail for three felony counts of credit card fraud and three felony counts of receiving property obtained by unlawful use of a credit card.

Prior to his booking at the North Las Vegas Jail, North Las Vegas detectives conducted a week-long criminal investigation following internal complaints about a department credit card that had gone missing. According to the criminal complaint, Cordova allegedly used the credit card to make personal purchases on three or more different occasions.

Cordova, who has been with the North Las Vegas police department for six years, is now on administrative leave.

The Nevada Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on August 3rd to determine whether to grant O.J. Simpson’s request for bail release pending his appeal. In 2008, Simpson was sentenced to 33 years in prison for assault with a deadly weapon and kidnapping in Las Vegas.

This will be the first time in eight years that the Nevada Supreme Court will hear oral arguments for bail pending appeal. This could be due, in part, to Simpson’s celebrity, but it also suggests that he has potentially meritorious issues.

Simpson attorney Yale Galanter, who also defended him in his assault and kidnapping in Las Vegas case, admits he has a high burden to meet in order to prevail at this hearing, but he’s insistent that Simpson will not be a flight risk: "He's got no place to go, no place to hide. News crews follow him to the restaurant, to the golf course, to school to pick up his kids. He's truly one of the most recognizable people on the planet."

Former NBA player Antoine Walker was recently arrested at Harrah’s Tahoe for failing to pay back $822,500 in casino markers. He posted $135,000 cash bail, and either he or his attorney will answer the charges on Monday at the Regional Justice Center in downtown Las Vegas.

Unpaid casino markers in Nevada are treated like bad checks. Each unpaid casino marker exceeding $250 is a felony carrying one to four years of prison time, a $5000 fine, and full restitution.

According to the Clark County District Attorney’s Office, Mr. Walker allegedly failed to pay back several markers taken from Caesar’s Palace, Planet Hollywood and the Red Rock Resort.

O.J. Simpson, who’s currently serving out his prison sentence for kidnapping, robbery and assault, has recently asked the Nevada Supreme Court to grant him release on bail while he seeks an appeal. On August 3rd, a three-justice panel in Las Vegas will preside over a bail hearing to hear Simpson’s arguments.

A bail hearing is where the defendant goes before the court to ask for an O.R. release (own recognizance) or a reduction in their bail amount. In determining whether to grant release, the judges then consider whether the defendant either:

1. poses a flight risk, and/or


2. presents a danger to the community or himself.

Predictably, defendants are more likely to be granted Las Vegas bail release if they have no history of violent behavior, no other criminal record, and sturdy community ties in Nevada. (Las Vegas bail rules usually permit for the bail money to be ultimately returned to the defendant, even after a guilty verdict.)

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A few weeks ago, our Las Vegas criminal defense lawyers told you about Nevada Senate Bill 262. This bill would have greatly increased penalties for the cultivation of marijuana, even if the suspect was enrolled in the Nevada Medical Marijuana Program. Fortunately, the bill just recently died in the Assembly Judiciary Committee.

The Nevada Medical Marijuana Program allows sick Nevada citizens to apply to the Nevada State Health Division for a license to grow and possess marijuana for medicinal purposes. Upon acceptance into the program, members may maintain up to seven marijuana plants, three of which can be blooming.

Had Nevada Senate Bill 262 passed, members who broke this seven-plant rule could then be charged with intent to sell marijuana, which carries up to fifteen years imprisonment. Since it didn’t pass, cardholding medical marijuana users who grow more than seven plants now face only possession charges, which carry a maximum of four years imprisonment.

A few weeks ago, Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons signed into law Nevada Senate Bill 14, which helps fund domestic violence programs by adding a $5 fee to state marriage licenses and official copies of marriage certificates. That means in Clark County, marriage licenses now cost $60.

Battery, which includes deliberate acts such as punching, pushing or poisoning, is considered “domestic violence” when it occurs between two people related by blood, marriage or guardianship (as well as roommates).

A first or second conviction for battery domestic violence in Nevada is a misdemeanor, carrying up to 6 months in jail, a $1,000 fine and weekly DV counseling sessions. A third conviction of battery domestic violence in Nevada is a felony, carrying up to five years imprisonment and a $10,000 fine.

It’s predicted that Nevada Senate Bill 14 will generate over a million and a half dollars a year for programs aimed at reducing domestic violence in Nevada.

In Nevada, the crime of trespass doesn’t necessarily have to do with sneaking onto someone else’s property or defying “No Trespassing” signs. According to NRS 207.200, you may commit trespass in Nevada simply by staying on another person’s property after being asked to leave. The following scenario occurs in Las Vegas trespass cases all the time, and many of them involve casinos:

If you’re in a casino and are being too noisy, a security officer may appear and ask you to leave. Unfortunately, the officer may be very rude about it, and, in an attempt to defend yourself, an altercation quickly ensues. Since you technically stayed on the premises after you were ordered to go, the guard may call the police and have you arrested for trespass in Nevada.

Luckily, NRS 207.200 is only a misdemeanor crime, and jail is rare for a first offense. However, since trespass looks bad on your criminal record, it’s worth hiring an experienced criminal defense attorney to attempt to get the case dismissed.