Opinion
No. 65588
07-21-2015
TRAVIS MATTHEW BELLES, Appellant, v. THE STATE OF NEVADA, Respondent.
An unpublished order shall not be regarded as precedent and shall not be cited as legal authority. SCR 123.
ORDER OF AFFIRMANCE
This is an appeal from a judgment of conviction, pursuant to a jury verdict, of battery causing substantial bodily harm. Ninth Judicial District Court, Douglas County; Michael P. Gibbons, Judge.
Appellant Travis Matthew Belles argues that the district court erred in giving a jury instruction on self-defense stating that the use of force is justified where it is "necessary." Belles contends that the instruction should have used his proposed language of "reasonably necessary" because the word "necessary" implies that he must not have had any option other than to use force. The district court correctly found that the language "reasonably necessary" was not an accurate statement of the law on self-defense and the given instruction was a correct statement. See NRS 200.200; NRS 200.275; Runion v. State, 116 Nev. 1041, 1051, 13 P.3d 52, 58-59 (2000). Therefore, the district court did not abuse its discretion in giving the self-defense instruction and rejecting Belles' proposed language. See Crawford v. State, 121 Nev. 744, 748, 121 P.3d 582, 585 (2005). Accordingly, we
ORDER the judgment of conviction AFFIRMED.
/s/_________, C.J.
Hardesty
/s/_________, J.
Saitta
/s/_________, J.
Pickering
cc: Ninth Judicial District Court Dept. 2
Derrick M. Lopez
Attorney General/Carson City
Douglas County District Attorney/Minden
Douglas County Clerk