Court orders new trial because of lawyer errors

The Nevada Supreme Court on Thursday ordered a new trial for Arthur Allen Carey on charges of robbing an elderly person.

Carey was convicted of four counts of robbery, one of conspiracy and enhancements for using a deadly weapon and because the victim was a senior citizen. He received prison terms up to 15 years for the robberies with consecutive 15 year terms for using a deadly weapon and two consecutive terms up to 5 years for the conspiracy counts.

On appeal, Carey argued his lawyer was ineffective for allowing Washoe County Deputy District Attorney Roy Stralla to improperly impeach his alibi witness and to violate his Fifth Amendment rights.

Specifically, Carey charged the prosecution improperly attacked his alibi witness, accusing her of having a past drug conviction and raised questions whether she violated tenants of her religious beliefs.

According to the high court order, she entered a program which cleared the drug charge from her record and was never convicted. Therefore, that accusation is not admissible to impeach her testimony. The high court also ruled impeaching a witness on matters of religion is inadmissible.

Finally, the court ruled the prosecutor went too far in presenting information about Carey's prior convictions by asking about the sentence, length of incarceration and any plea bargains made.

Because Carey's lawyer failed to object to any of those issues during the trial, the high court ruled the defense performance fell below reasonable standards. The order signed by Justices Bill Maupin, Michael Douglas and Ron Parraguirre reverses the conviction and remands the case for a new trial.