Appeal by Defendant

Criminal Lawyer in Las Vegas Explains Defendant’s Appeals to District Court

A defendant in Nevada will likely find his case initially coming before a Justice Court. There are 40 Justice Courts in Nevada – spread across the state’s different counties – and they are presided over by 65 Justices of the Peace, according to the Supreme Court of Nevada.

The rules for these courts are outlined in Chapter 189 of the Nevada Code, and the responsibility of the courts is to preside over traffic cases, summary eviction cases, non-traffic misdemeanors, small claims and cases involving temporary protective orders. Justices of the Peace also make decisions on whether there is sufficient evidence for felony cases or gross misdemeanor cases to be bound over to the District Court so a defendant can face trial.

If you are a criminal defendant and a Justice of the Peace in Justice Court has made a decision that is not in your favor, you may be able to appeal the decision that was made. Nevada criminal lawyers can provide assistance with the appeals process. LV Criminal Defense has helped many clients accused of wrongdoing to successfully appeal an unfavorable decision and to get the complaint against them dismissed.

You should reach out to our legal team as soon as possible to find out how the process of a defendant appealing a Justice Court decision works and to get started on your appeal as there are strict deadlines that you must meet.

Appeals by Defendant to District Court

Within Chapter 189, there is a section on appeals and a subsection on appeals made by the defendant. The appeals are made to the District Court, and N.R.S. 189.010 through 189.070 explain the rules and requirements for a defendant who wishes to appeal a decision.

According to N.R.S. 189.010, a defendant in a criminal action that was tried before the Justice of the Peace is permitted to appeal from the final judgment of the Justice Court. The defendant who wishes to appeal will need to commence the appeal within 10 days of the time when the initial judgment is rendered. The appeal will be made to the District Court in the county where the Justice Court is located.

If a defendant wishes to file an appeal, the defendant must file notice with the Justice of the Peace, according to N.R.S. 189.020. The defendant must also serve notice on the district attorney who represented the state on the criminal case against the defendant. The notice provided by the defendant who is appealing must explain the judgment which is being appealed.

N.R.S. 189.030 details the transfer of the transcript of the Justice Court proceedings to the District Court, and explains that certain other papers, sound recordings and copies of the docket must also be transferred to the District Court. If there are defects in the transcript of the Justice Court proceedings, N.R.S. 189.050 outlines the procedure to be followed.

The appeal is to be judged on the records presented to the District Court, according to N.R.S. 189.050. This means that no new evidence or facts are presented by the defendant; the court simply considers whether the actions taken in Justice Court were proper in accordance with the law.

The grounds for dismissing the appeal and for enforcement of the judgement are set forth in N.R.S. 189.060. An appeal will be dismissed for failure to appear in the District Court as required or for failure to take the same in time.

The grounds for dismissing the complaint against the defendant – or reversing the unfavorable decision by the Justice Court – are found in N.R.S. 189.070. A complaint against the defendant can be dismissed on appeal if the Justice of the Peace didn’t have jurisdiction (authority) to make a decision; if any one count of the complaint charged more than one offense; or if the facts as stated don’t show that the defendant broke the law.