Nevada Supreme Court issues 3 opinions

In Vega v. State, the Court addresses three issues:

"First, we consider whether appellant Bernardo Vega's constitutional right to confrontation under the Confrontation Clause, Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36 (2004), and Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, 557 U.S. ­___, 129 S. Ct. 2527 (2009), was violated.  We conclude that Vega's constitutional right to confrontation was violated when the district court erroneously admitted the testimonial statements from an unavailable expert witness without the witness previously being subjected to cross-examination.  However, we conclude that the error did not affect Vega's substantial rights and did not amount to plain error because the testifying expert offered her own opinions independent of those of the unavailable expert witness.

            Second, we consider whether the district court properly admitted evidence that the child victim made two suicide attempts during the time period when she was subjected to sexual abuse.  Vega asserts that this evidence was irrelevant and intended to appeal to the emotions of the jury.  We disagree.  The State introduced evidence regarding the victim's suicide attempts to demonstrate that Vega had subjected the victim to ongoing and repetitive sexual abuse, and to show the effect and harm the abuse had on the victim.  Therefore, we conclude that it was not manifest error for the district court to admit this evidence.

            Third, Vega challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to convict him on counts 4, 5, and 9 of sexual assault with a minor under the age of 14 because the record does not show that the child victim was under the age of 14 at the time of the sexual assaults.  We conclude that based on the evidence presented at trial, a rational jury could have reasonably determined that the victim was under the age of 14 at the time the sexual assaults charged in counts 4 and 5 occurred, but not when the sexual assault charged in count 9 occurred.  Thus, we conclude that there was sufficient evidence to support Vega's convictions on counts 4 and 5, but that there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction on count 9."

Schiff v. Winchell -  "In this appeal, we consider whether the district court erred in determining that the date of the original judgment on a jury verdict, rather than the date of an amended judgment entered on remand, was the appropriate date for determining the rate of prejudgment interest.  We conclude that the district court did not err and that the appropriate date for determining prejudgment interest is the date the original judgment was entered."

George L. Brown Insurance Agency v. Star Insurance Co. -  "In this appeal, we consider what approach Nevada should adopt in interpreting indemnity provisions in insurance contracts when an indemnitee seeks to be indemnified on claims arising out of the indemnitee's own negligence.  We conclude that Nevada should adopt the majority rule regarding indemnification; therefore, the contract must expressly or explicitly reference the indemnitee's own negligence before an indemnitee may be indemnified for his or her own negligence.  Consequently, we conclude that the district court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of respondents Star Insurance Company, Meadowbrook, Inc., and Meadowbrook of Nevada, Inc. (collectively, Star), because there are genuine issues of material fact concerning fault that must be decided before the indemnification clause at issue here may be enforced."