Nevada Supreme Court: June 2010 Archives

I'm back from vacation, and I finished my latest brief, so postings will now resume.  Sorry for the delay.

The Nevada Supreme Court issued a decision today in Buckwalter v. Eighth Juidicial District Court.  In a decision authored by Justice Pickering, and joined by Justice Hardesty and Justice Douglas, the Court denied a petition for a writ in a medical malpractice action. 

The Court holds that the district court did not err in denying a motion to dismiss that was based upon the argument that an expert witness provided a declaration in the face of a statute that required an expert's affidavit.  The Court relies upon NRS 53.045 in fidning that a declaration that is sworn under penalty perjury is sufficient.

The Court finds that consideration of the writ is appropriate because the issue presented is not fact-bound and involves an unsettled and potentially significant, recurring question of law.

It's one of my cases, so I'm not going to say much.  The opinion is Polk v. State.  It addresses the State's failure to address a constitutional issue in its Answering Brief and the admission of expert testimony in violation of Melendez-Diaz and Crawford.