Nancy A. Becker

This case concerned the adoption of a young child with Native American ancestry and challenges under the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) to the validity of the adoption based on lack of proper judicial certification of parental consent. The court decided that a tribal enrollment officer's affidavit is sufficient evidence to establish a child's status as a Native American child subject to the ICWA, and that a tribe has independent standing to challenge a voluntary adoption under the Act. It further held that because the adoptive parent had no opportunity to rebut the affidavit, the district court's order vacating the adoption must be reversed and the matter remanded. The reasoning relied on ICWA provisions regarding evidence of tribal membership, tribal intervention rights, and due process requirements for rebuttal.

family lawcivil rightsfederal power

This case involved consolidated petitions challenging two Nevada district courts' refusals to dismiss qui tam lawsuits filed under the state's False Claims Act, which allows private plaintiffs to sue on behalf of the state for alleged fraud involving public funds, here based on tax deficiencies by various retailers. The Nevada Supreme Court held that the district courts manifestly abused their discretion by denying the Attorney General's motions to dismiss for good cause. The core reasoning was that while tax-based false claims actions are permissible in some circumstances, Nevada law assigns primary responsibility for factual evaluations and legal interpretations of revenue statutes to the Department of Taxation's expertise, so the Attorney General's determination that such issues should first be addressed by that department provides sufficient good cause for dismissal under the FCA.

taxesprocedurebusiness & regulatory

This case concerned the admissibility of a registered nurse's affidavit regarding the withdrawal of a blood sample in a misdemeanor driving under the influence prosecution. The municipal and district courts excluded portions of the affidavit for exceeding the scope of NRS 50.315(4) and ordered the prosecution to produce the nurse. The Nevada Supreme Court held that the affidavit fully complied with the statute and was admissible. It further concluded that NRS 50.315(4) is constitutional under the Confrontation Clause because the statute provides the defendant an opportunity to subpoena and cross-examine the nurse. The court reversed the district court's denial of mandamus relief and remanded for a determination on whether the defendant waived confrontation rights.

criminal lawprocedure

Willie Warren was convicted of robbery following a police decoy operation in which an officer posed as an intoxicated person with visible cash in his pocket, and Warren approached and took the money. Warren appealed, arguing that the operation amounted to entrapment, that the court should reject the rule in Luce v. United States requiring a defendant to testify before challenging impeachment evidence, and that a certified minute order from a prior California conviction was improperly admitted to rebut an entrapment defense or for impeachment. The Nevada Supreme Court concluded that Warren had waived standing to raise entrapment on appeal, declined to follow Luce and instead adopted an offer-of-proof procedure, determined that the minute order was admissible to show predisposition but not for impeachment (though any error was harmless), and affirmed the conviction and sentence.

criminal lawprocedure

In Potter v. Potter, the parents had shared joint physical custody of their child after divorce but the mother sought to relocate with the child to California for a job and educational opportunity, filing a petition under Nevada’s relocation statute NRS 125C.200. The father opposed the move and argued that the statute did not apply because the parties shared joint physical custody. The Nevada Supreme Court held that NRS 125C.200 applies only when one parent has primary physical custody, not in joint physical custody arrangements; instead, a parent seeking to relocate must file a motion to modify custody under NRS 125.510(2). The district court therefore erred by applying the relocation statute and granting the petition without first determining whether a change to primary custody was warranted. The court reversed the order and remanded for the district court to decide, under the best-interests-of-the-child standard, whether the child should reside primarily with the mother in California or the father in Nevada.

family law

In Weber v. State, the defendant was convicted after a jury trial of 17 felony counts, including the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl and the murders of her mother and brother, for which he received a death sentence on one murder count and life without parole on the other. The Nevada Supreme Court affirmed the convictions and sentences on appeal. The court acknowledged that some trial errors occurred but concluded they were harmless beyond a reasonable doubt and did not affect the outcome. The opinion reviews the factual background of the crimes, evidentiary rulings, and sentencing aggravators before reaching this determination.

criminal lawprocedure