The Nevada Supreme Court on Wednesday reversed two convictions for judicial error, both involving burglary and robbery charges.
Paul Frank Felix was convicted by a Las Vegas jury of robbery with use of a deadly weapon, assault and malicious injury to a vehicle.
His lawyer charged the district judge erred by refusing to suspend the proceedings to assess the defendant's competence to stand trial. According to the order signed by Justices Mark Parraguirre, Michael Douglas and Kris Pickering, "the independent competency evaluations coupled with Felix's bizarre courtroom behavior apprised the court that there was sufficient doubt regarding Felix's competency."
Felix had been ruled competent by Judge Jackie Glass a month before the trial. Judge Douglas Herndon agreed with defense counsel that competency can change over time but that, "I don't think it changes so much in the course of a month."
The high court disagreed, stating that the evidence of Felix's incompetence exceeded the threshold requirements. According to the order reversing the conviction, even when a defendant is found competent at the start of a trial, "the court must always be alert to circumstances suggesting a change that would render the accused unable to meet the standards of competence to stand trial."
In the second case, Tracey Lewis Brown was convicted of three counts of burglary while in possession of a dangerous weapon and two counts of robbing a senior victim in Southern Nevada.
His lawyers appealed, arguing police lacked justification under the U.S. Constitution to conduct a warrantless search of Brown's girlfriend's home.
During the trial, prosecutors told jurors the police entered the home after the woman voluntarily signed a consent-to-search card.
"This is incorrect," the high court order states. "The record demonstrates that the police first entered the home and forcefully removed Brown's girlfriend before she signed the consent-to-search card."
Justices Parraguirre, Douglas and Pickering ruled that sequence of events tainted the evidence found in the search.
"In this case, Brown's girlfriend signed the consent-to-search card just moments after she was forcefully removed from her home at gunpoint," the justices states.
Therefore, they ruled, her consent was not truly an act of free will.