Deborah Agosti

This case involved a medical negligence claim brought by James Banks, Jr., who suffered cardiac arrest during rotator cuff surgery at Sunrise Hospital in 1995 and remained in a permanent vegetative state, against the hospital, surgeon, and anesthesiologist. The surgeon and anesthesiologist settled before trial, after which a jury found the hospital liable and awarded substantial damages that the district court reduced by the settlement amounts. Sunrise appealed, alleging trial errors including issues with evidence handling and jury instructions, while Banks cross-appealed the reduction. The Nevada Supreme Court affirmed, holding that Sunrise had not shown reversible error and that the district court correctly applied the comparative negligence statute to deduct settlements without admitting them to the jury. The decision rested on review of the record showing proper equipment checks, no proven spoliation, and adherence to statutory procedures for multi-defendant tort actions.

torts & liabilityhealthcareprocedure

This case is an appeal from Margaret Rudin's convictions for unauthorized surreptitious intrusion of privacy by listening device and murder with use of a deadly weapon. Rudin challenged her convictions on grounds including the admission of unreliable expert testimony, multiple instances of prosecutorial and judicial misconduct that deprived her of a fair trial, and her trial counsel's inability to prepare adequately. The Nevada Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of conviction, holding that all of Rudin's arguments lacked merit. The court reviewed the trial record and applicable legal standards for each claim before concluding that no reversible error occurred.

criminal lawprocedure

This case involved a dispute over an employment contract between Edward Ringle, owner of the Stagecoach Casino and Hotel, and his general manager Alpheus Bruton. After the two-year contract expired in 1994, Bruton continued working without a new written agreement, and in 1996 his employment ended without the required 60 days' notice. Bruton sued for breach of contract, and the jury awarded him damages, which Ringle appealed arguing the contract had expired and he became an at-will employee. The Nevada Supreme Court affirmed, holding that when an employee continues working after a contract expires, the terms of the contract are presumed to continue governing the relationship except for its duration, and substantial evidence supported the damages award. The court also affirmed the denial of a new trial, clarifying that improper closing arguments not properly objected to at trial generally cannot be raised on appeal absent extraordinary circumstances.

labor & employmentprocedure

This case involves Edward Bennett's second post-conviction petition challenging his 1988 murder conviction and death sentence for fatally shooting a store clerk during an attempted robbery in Las Vegas, with his accomplice wounding a customer. The Nevada Supreme Court affirmed the district court's partial grant of relief, which vacated the death sentence and ordered a new penalty hearing, while upholding the denial of Bennett's other claims. The court found that the State violated Brady v. Maryland by withholding evidence and that the "at random and without apparent motive" aggravator was invalid, concluding these errors together undermined the reliability of the jury's sentencing decision. It rejected remaining procedural and substantive challenges to the conviction and other aspects of the proceedings.

criminal lawprocedurecivil rights

This case concerned a petition by the Nevada Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS) seeking a writ to block a family court order that required DCFS to disclose the names and addresses of a minor child's siblings' adoptive and natural parents. The child, A.M.S., sought the information through her attorney solely to serve a petition for sibling visitation after her sisters had been adopted or returned to a biological parent following the termination of their mother's parental rights. The Nevada Supreme Court denied the writ petition, holding that DCFS's arguments about the expiration of visitation rights under NRS 125C.050 and NRS 127.171 were unpersuasive because the child was a state ward whose access depended on DCFS action and because earlier family court orders for a visitation plan were presumptively valid. The court further concluded that the family court had jurisdiction to order limited disclosure under exceptions in the confidentiality statutes, NRS 432B.290(1)(e) and (g).

family lawprocedure

In Meyer v. State, appellant Adam Ray Meyer was convicted by a jury of one count of sexual assault and sentenced to a minimum of ten years in prison. On appeal, Meyer challenged the conviction on multiple grounds, including juror misconduct involving a juror's independent research into sentencing that was shared with other jurors. The Nevada Supreme Court reversed the conviction, ruling that the misconduct constituted prejudicial extrinsic influence on the jury. The court explained that such actions violated instructions against considering external information and clarified the standard of review distinguishing extrinsic from intrinsic jury misconduct in cases of tampering or improper deliberations.

criminal lawprocedure