On Christmas Day 2003, Steven and Susan Maini, their two children, and Susan's parents died in a plane crash at the North Las Vegas airport. This appeal arises out of a conflict between Susan's brother and Steven's brother, the administrators of Susan's and Steven's respective estates, over the distribution of the ownership interest in a Maini family company, respondent/cross-appellant Maini Distributing, Inc. (MDI), and the distribution of Susan's life insurance policies' proceeds. In this...  

In this opinion, we consider the State's contention that McConnell v. State1 was wrongly decided and its alternative argument that a new trial is an appropriate remedy when the sole aggravating circumstance in a death penalty case has been determined to be invalid under McConnell during post-conviction review. We reject the State's contention that McConnell was wrongly decided, and we conclude that a new penalty hearing is the proper remedy under the circumstances described by the State......  

In this appeal, we consider whether we should extend the holding in our decision in McConnell v. State1 to bar the dual use of torture as a theory of first-degree murder and as an aggravating circumstance to support a death sentence. We conclude that McConnell does not preclude the State from securing a murder conviction based upon a theory of torture and alleging torture as an aggravating circumstance in seeking a death sentence. Nevada's definition of torture murder sufficiently narrows the...  

Appellant Michelle Rivero and respondent Elvis Rivero's divorce decree provided for "joint physical custody" of their minor child, with Ms. Rivero having the child five days each week and Mr. Rivero having the child two days each week. The decree awarded no child support. After the divorce decree was entered, Ms. Rivero brought a motion to modify child custody and support. The district court ordered that the decree would remain in force, with the parties having joint custody of their...  

These appeals center on a "mere happening" jury instruction—an instruction asserting that the mere happening of an accident is, by itself, an insufficient basis for liability—given by the district court in a medical malpractice action. Initially, we must determine whether appellants preserved for our review their objection to respondent's proposed jury instruction. We conclude that appellants' objection to the jury instruction was sufficient to preserve the claimed error...  

The primary issue we address in this appeal is whether harmless-error review applies when a general verdict based on multiple theories of liability may rest on a legally invalid alternative theory. To resolve this issue, we must address relevant federal cases and reconcile two prior decisions by this court... The United States Supreme Court first addressed the impact of a general verdict that may rest on a legally valid or a legally invalid alternative theory of liability in Stromberg v....  

This appeal invites the court to consider whether counsel's affirmative misrepresentation regarding the possible immigration consequences of a guilty plea affects the voluntariness of the plea... Appellant Manuela Rubio entered a guilty plea to battery with the use of a deadly weapon. After Rubio was deported, she filed a post-conviction motion to withdraw her guilty plea, claiming the court interpreter misadvised her and that her lawyer failed to meet with her to discuss the guilty plea...  

This appeal raises the issue of whether claim preclusion applies to prevent a party from bringing a second lawsuit when the first lawsuit was dismissed under a local court rule for failure to attend a pretrial calendar call. In resolving this issue, we clarify the tests for determining when claim preclusion or issue preclusion applies. We then conclude that claim preclusion applies in the present case and therefore affirm the district court's order granting summary judgment in favor of...  

This matter arises from a single-vehicle rollover accident that claimed the driver's life. The vehicle's owner, a passenger in the vehicle who survived the accident, did not maintain automobile insurance on the vehicle. Thus, to recover insurance proceeds from the driver's death, the driver's parents made a claim with their insurance company, under the uninsured motorist provision of their policy. The parents' insurance company denied the claim, contending that, under Nevada law, uninsured...  

This petition arises out of an ongoing conflict between respondent the Nevada State Board of Equalization, real party in interest the Washoe County Assessor, and taxpayers from the Incline Village and Crystal Bay areas. On March 8, 2006, the Washoe County Board of Equalization issued a general equalization decision for the 2006-2007 tax year, rolling back the taxable valuations of approximately 8,700 properties in Incline Village and Crystal Bay. The Assessor administratively appealed that...  

Appellants, David and Sandra Mathewson, Jack and Mary Knowles, and Shirley Fraser—all of whom own property along Mesa Drive—and the Mesagate Homeowners' Association (collectively "Mesagate") petitioned the district court for a writ of mandamus revoking respondent City of Fernley's building permit for a water treatment plant. The district court denied Mesagate's writ petition, concluding that Mesagate's alleged harm did not support extraordinary writ relief. Mesagate now...  

We previously issued an opinion in these matters on June 12, 2008. In that opinion, we reversed the judgment on the breach of contract claim regarding the retrofit issue and remanded for a new trial, affirmed the district court's judgment enforcing the lien, vacated the district court's award of attorney fees, and reversed the award of sanctions. Appellants' and respondents' petitions for rehearing followed... We will consider rehearing when we have overlooked or misapprehended material facts...  

In this appeal and cross-appeal, we primarily consider whether actual losses resulting from the conversion of inventory include the value of a lost business. We conclude that full recovery for actual losses includes not only the converted inventory, but also resulting damages such as the value of a lost business... FACTS... Appellant/cross-respondent Calvin Winchell, d/b/a CGL Seafood, Inc., owned and operated a wholesale fresh fish business in Las Vegas, Nevada. Winchell's business grew from...  

This opinion addresses several issues arising in the context of Nevada's employment law. We primarily focus, however, on three important and novel questions: (1) whether NRS 608.160, which prohibits employers from taking employee tips, implies a private cause of action to enforce its terms; (2) whether, in the event that no private cause of action exists, declaratory relief is nonetheless available to employees who allege that the statute's terms were violated by an employment policy; and (3)...  

In this appeal, we consider whether the district court can change a jury's verdict from not guilty to guilty for a criminal charge based on a purported clerical error after the jury has been discharged. We also address a clerical error in the judgment of conviction that precludes habitual criminal sentencing on one of the battery convictions... Regarding the verdict, we conclude that the Double Jeopardy Clause prohibits the district court from changing the jury's verdict from not guilty to...  

In this case, we primarily consider whether intangible property, in particular a contractor's license, can be the subject of a claim in tort for conversion. In doing so, we adopt the California definition of "property rights" and the Restatement (Second) of Torts rule defining conversion of "intangible personal property," and expressly reject the notion that personal property must be tangible in order to give rise to a conversion claim. We therefore conclude in this case that...  

This original proceeding stems from an appeal in a case concerning a complaint for partition or sale of certain Clark County real property. In that case, this court reversed the district court's judgment transferring the property from petitioners to real parties in interest through a judicial sale and remanded the matter to the district court for further proceedings. When petitioners took steps to undo the judicial sale in light of the court's order, real parties in interest obtained a...  

In this appeal, we consider whether hearings to determine the admissibility of juror questions should be conducted on the record as part of the procedural safeguards that were prescribed in Flores v. State1 and whether the failure to comply with these safeguards is reviewable for harmless error. For the reasons set forth below, we require hearings regarding the admissibility of juror questions to be conducted on the record. We also conclude that the failure to properly administer the required...  

In this appeal, we consider the appropriate method for assessing the taxable value of income-producing real property when the property's improvements contain constructional defects. This case arises from respondent the State Board of Equalization's determination with respect to the 2004-2005 tax assessment of appellants' properties. Each appellant owns a property containing an apartment complex. According to appellants, the 2004-2005 tax assessment of their properties did not properly account...  

This appeal raises the issue of whether sovereign immunity principles apply to shield a county from civil liability in an action to recover damages following abatement of a nuisance. Although Nevada has waived its sovereign immunity by statute, exceptions to the waiver apply, including one that protects political subdivisions of the state from liability for their discretionary acts. As we recently adopted in Martinez v. Maruszczak the federal two-part test for determining whether the...