I have always been against bureacrats picking judges in Clark County, but after seeing this article in theLVRJ, I might change my ind.
From the LVRJ:
A district judge has overturned the first-degree murder conviction of a Las Vegas man after ruling that he received ineffective assistance from his trial lawyers.
“Taken as a whole, the performance of trial counsel fell below any objective standard of reasonableness to such an extent that it rendered the verdict unreliable and the trial unfair,” District Judge Abbi Silver wrote in her decision.
Prosecutors are appealing the April ruling, which grants the petition for writ of habeas corpus filed by Mauricio Melendez. Such a petition asks a judge to determine whether a person’s imprisonment is lawful.
Melendez, now 40, has been serving a life sentence for fatally shooting his wife, Chennel, in August 2008 and will remain in custody while the Clark County district attorney’s office appeals Silver’s decision. Lawyers in the district attorney’s office declined to be interviewed for this story.
At his July 2009 trial, Melendez was represented by Christy Craig and Scott Coffee from the Clark County public defender’s office.
Melendez was convicted of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon, and the Nevada Supreme Court affirmed his conviction in August 2011.
He later filed the petition alleging he had received ineffective assistance of counsel, and attorney Karen Connolly was appointed to represent him.
http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/las-vegas/clark-county-judge-overturns-las-vegas-man-s-murder-conviction
And one of the reasons why this idiot judge thought he got bad legal advice:
Silver, a former prosecutor, also found fault with several other decisions made by Melendez’s trial lawyers. For instance, she concluded that they were ineffective for stipulating to the admission of the victim’s autopsy report.
According to the judge’s ruling, Dr. Jacqueline Benjamins performed the autopsy but was no longer employed by the Clark County coroner’s office at the time of trial and did not testify.
Silver concluded that the report was prejudicial to Melendez because it listed the manner of death as “homicide.”
Apparently, this idiot judge doesn't know or understand that the term "homocide" means that anothe rperson caused some's death.
If someone kills a person on purpose, it is a homocide.
If a killing is justified, like self defense, it still is a "homocide".
When cop shoots a person in self defense, it is still labeled a homocide.
This judge is a complete and total moron and who knows, may have been paid off to make this ruling. This wouldn't be the first time it has happened in Clark County.
Her ruling will be overturned when it hits the Nevada Supreme Court.
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Paid off? I find that an amusing notion seeing how he has no family or friends. How do you propose he paid off a judge when he is broke and knows no one with money? Whats more as you know nothing about the details of this case you have no place to give judgment.
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