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Clark v. State

Supreme Court of Nevada
Sep 10, 1973
89 Nev. 392 (Nev. 1973)

Opinion

No. 6959

September 10, 1973

Appeal from judgment of conviction and sentence, Eighth Judicial District, Clark County; Clarence Sundean, Judge.

Morgan Harris, Public Defender, and Brian L. Greenspun, Deputy Public Defender, Clark County, for Appellant.

Robert List, Attorney General, Carson City; Roy A. Woofter, District Attorney, and Charles L. Garner, Deputy District Attorney, Clark County, for Respondent.


OPINION


Convicted of second degree murder (NRS 200.010) and sentenced to a 10-year prison term, appellant asks us to reverse because of (1) insufficient evidence to sustain the conviction and, (2) prosecutorial misconduct.

We have examined the record and find sufficient evidence to sustain the jury verdict. See Cross v. State, 85 Nev. 580, 460 P.2d 151 (1969).

The prosecutor attempted to impeach Charles Murrell, a witness for the defense, by interrogating him about a prior misdemeanor conviction. Defense counsel objected to that question and the trial judge sustained the objection. The appellant made no move for a mistrial, nor did he request to have the jury admonished, nor did he request any special instruction to the jury when the case was submitted.

As a general rule, the failure to move to strike, move for a mistrial, assign misconduct or request an instruction, will preclude appellate consideration. State v. Fouquette, 67 Nev. 505, 221 P.2d 404 (1950). See Cook v. State, 77 Nev. 83, 359 P.2d 483 (1961); Kelley v. State, 76 Nev. 65, 348 P.2d 966 (1960); O'Briant v. State, 72 Nev. 100, 295 P.2d 396 (1956); State v. Boyle, 49 Nev. 386, 248 P. 48 (1926); State v. Moore, 48 Nev. 405, 233 P. 523 (1925). Cf. Merica v. State, 87 Nev. 457, 488 P.2d 1161 (1971); Hardison v. State, 84 Nev. 125, 437 P.2d 868 (1968); Shamberg v. State, 83 Nev. 372, 432 P.2d 500 (1967); and Mathis v. State, 82 Nev. 402, 419 P.2d 775 (1966). See also, Baker v. State, supra.

Since appellant's contentions are grounded upon a statutory prohibition and not upon a constitutional question, and it is apparent from the record that the defense was conducted with a complete understanding of the charge and without any prejudice to any substantive rights of the appellant, we reject this assignment of error because appellant failed to move for a mistrial, or for an admonishment or special instruction to the jury concerning the prosecutor's questioning of the witness Charles Murrell.

Affirmed.


Summaries of

Clark v. State

Supreme Court of Nevada
Sep 10, 1973
89 Nev. 392 (Nev. 1973)
Case details for

Clark v. State

Case Details

Full title:TOMMY CLARK, APPELLANT, v. THE STATE OF NEVADA, RESPONDENT

Court:Supreme Court of Nevada

Date published: Sep 10, 1973

Citations

89 Nev. 392 (Nev. 1973)
513 P.2d 1224

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