Conviction for 40 counts of rape upheld

While agreeing the trial judge made several errors, the Nevada Supreme Court has upheld the conviction of Juan Mendoza on a total of 40 counts of sexual assault - 15 of them when the victim was under age 16.

Mendoza was convicted after a three-day trial in Las Vegas and sentenced to 40 life sentences in prison. When the minimum terms he must serve for each count are added up, he would have to serve a minimum of 130 years before being eligible for release.

He appealed the conviction arguing the trial judge improperly allowed testimony about prior bad acts, improperly allowed evidence Mendoza also took nude photos of the victim when she was 13 and made other errors. The Supreme Court panel of Justices Michael Douglas, Nancy Becker and Ron Parraguirre agreed those were errors.

But, they wrote, "we find those errors to be harmless, especially in light of the overwhelming evidence of guilt."

"The prior bad acts were the same crime by the same perpetrator against the same victim," they said.

But the court agreed the judge should have put proper findings on the record before allowing that evidence. Given the evidence of guilt, the high court concluded the result - conviction - would have been the same in any event.

The high court ruled Mendoza was not denied a fair trial and upheld his conviction and sentence.

-- Contact reporter Geoff Dornan at gdornan@nevadaappeal.com or 687-8750.