Bolin v. State
| Decision Date | 19 May 1998 |
| Docket Number | No. 29497,29497 |
| Citation | 114 Nev. 503,960 P.2d 784 |
| Parties | Gregory D. BOLIN, Appellant, v. The STATE of Nevada, Respondent. |
| Court | Nevada Supreme Court |
Appellant Gregory Bolin was convicted of first degree kidnapping, sexual assault, and first degree murder and sentenced to death. Bolin now appeals his conviction and sentence, arguing that: (1) the district court erred in admitting evidence of his prior rape and kidnapping convictions, (2) the admission of a witness's one-on-one jailhouse identification deprived him of a fair trial, (3) the district court erred in admitting serology evidence because the search warrant used to obtain such evidence was invalid, (4) the district court erred in admitting hair analysis evidence and statistical DNA evidence, (5) the district court erred in denying Bolin's objections to certain jury instructions, (6) the aggravating circumstance embodied in NRS 200.033(4) is unconstitutional, (7) the district court erred by not making a habitual criminal determination and sentencing Bolin on the sexual assault and kidnapping convictions prior to the penalty phase, and (8) the district court abused its discretion by allowing victim impact testimony. For the reasons set forth below, we reject Bolin's contentions and affirm his conviction and sentence.
On July 15, 1995, the body of Brooklyn Ricks (Ricks) was discovered at a residential construction site in Las Vegas. Up until the time of her death, Ricks and her husband, Kerry, shared an apartment with Ricks' two sisters, Liberty and Brittany. Additionally, Ricks and her sisters worked at B & R Video--a video rental store--which was located a short distance from their Las Vegas apartment in a nearby strip mall.
During the first week of July 1995, Ricks' sister, Liberty, opened a video rental account for Bolin at B & R Video. Thereafter, Bolin returned to the store approximately every other day, and on each occasion he asked Liberty on a date. Although Bolin was persistent, Liberty declined each invitation. In addition to his interest in Liberty, Bolin also asked Brittany on a date and asked Liberty whether Ricks would be interested in going on a date with him. As with Liberty, neither Brittany nor Ricks agreed to date Bolin.
On July 14, 1995, Liberty was scheduled to work from 3:00 p.m. until midnight at B & R Video. Because of a prior commitment that prevented her from working her entire shift, Ricks agreed to go into work at 10:00 p.m. to complete Liberty's shift. At 9:45 p.m., Ricks left her home in her 1974 gray Chevrolet pickup truck. At approximately 9:50 p.m., Bolin entered B & R Video wearing a tight black tank top, light-colored shorts, and white tennis shoes. Bolin's arrival and appearance were depicted on B & R Video's surveillance camera. At approximately 10:00 p.m., Ricks arrived at B & R Video wearing a turquoise B & R Video polo shirt and blue jeans. Additionally, Ricks was carrying a black backpack and was wearing her wedding band, an opal ring, and a gold bracelet.
Shortly after 10:00 p.m., Liberty left B & R Video. Bolin exited the store at the same time and walked towards the adjacent Albertson's grocery store. At approximately 12:10 a.m., Ricks and co-worker Tabitha Wharton departed B & R Video after completing routine closing procedures. Wharton watched as Ricks got into her vehicle and drove past the Albertson's grocery store towards Jones Boulevard. Wharton was the last person to see Ricks alive.
The following morning, carpenter Keith Sirvaag discovered Ricks' body at a residential construction site in Las Vegas when he arrived for work at approximately 5:30 a.m. Upon arriving at the construction site, Sirvaag noticed a gray, 1970's model Chevrolet or GMC pickup truck parked along the right side of the dirt road leading into the project. After passing the truck, Sirvaag continued a short distance further until he arrived in front of one of the framed houses that he would be working on that day. While sitting in his truck approximately forty feet from the house, Sirvaag noticed an African-American male inside the framed house near the staircase. Sirvaag continued to watch as the man walked through the house and exited through the garage.
After exiting the garage, the man walked in front of Sirvaag's truck at a distance of approximately twenty feet, and was in his field of vision for approximately twenty to thirty seconds. As the man approached Sirvaag's truck, Sirvaag noticed that he was wearing a dark tank top and light-colored dress shorts. Sirvaag estimated that the man was approximately thirty years old, six feet tall, and weighed about 220 to 230 pounds. 1 In addition to having a very muscular build, Sirvaag noticed that the man had a tattoo located on his upper right arm. However, Sirvaag did not get a good view of the tattoo's shape or form.
After the man walked past Sirvaag's truck, Sirvaag glanced back to the framed house from where the man had departed and noticed something under the staircase. Approximately five to ten seconds later, Sirvaag looked in his rearview mirror and saw the gray pickup truck depart the construction site in a rapid and erratic manner. It appeared to Sirvaag that the same African-American male who he had seen exit the house was driving the gray pickup truck.
Upon exiting his truck to begin work, Sirvaag heard a gagging noise emanating from the framed house in which he had seen the African-American male. After hearing the noise several more times, Sirvaag proceeded around the back of the house to investigate. Upon entering the house through a rear doorway, Sirvaag noticed the body of a young woman lying under the staircase.
Sirvaag approached the woman, who was still alive but unconscious, and noticed that she had a gag in her mouth, her hands were tied behind her back, and her face and chest were covered in blood. While the woman was unresponsive to his questions, Sirvaag nonetheless told her to "hang on" and that he was "going to run and get help." Sirvaag then ran to one of the occupied homes in the construction site and called the police and emergency medical personnel, who arrived at the scene within a matter of minutes. By the time Sirvaag returned to the house to render assistance, the woman had died.
At approximately 7:00 a.m., Det. Morgan, of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD), conducted a twenty minute taped conversation with Sirvaag at the crime scene wherein Sirvaag relayed the description of the suspect. At approximately 8:15 a.m., James Becvar, an investigator with the Clark County Coroner's office, arrived at the crime scene. In conducting his initial examination of the victim's body, Becvar observed that the woman was wearing blue jeans and a turquoise polo shirt with a B & R Video logo. Becvar observed that the victim had sustained several puncture wounds to her chest and left breast.
After examining the victim's chest wounds, Becvar unbuttoned the victim's jeans in order to perform a preliminary sexual assault examination. Without removing the victim's jeans or underwear, Becvar observed that the woman's underwear had been turned inside out. Additionally, a used sanitary napkin was found next to the victim's body. After Becvar's initial examination, the woman's body was transported to the Clark County morgue for identification.
Based on the B & R logo on the woman's shirt, detectives from LVMPD and Becvar proceeded to B & R Video and learned that the victim found at the construction site matched the physical description of Ricks, who had been missing since the previous evening. With this information, Becvar proceeded to Ricks' apartment to confirm the victim's identity. Based on photos and a physical description of Ricks provided by her husband, Becvar made the preliminary conclusion that the victim at the construction site was indeed Ricks.
Knowing that Ricks was last seen alive at work, Becvar asked Ricks' two sisters if anything strange had occurred at B & R Video during the previous few weeks. Ricks' sisters informed Becvar that a man had recently been frequenting the video store and had persistently asked them on dates. Based on the physical description of the man provided by Ricks' sisters, Becvar thought that this individual could be the same man that Sirvaag had seen at the crime scene shortly before Ricks' death. Additionally, Ricks' sister, Liberty, told Becvar that the man had been at the video store the previous evening around 10:00 p.m. and that his appearance was most likely depicted on B & R Video's surveillance camera.
Based on this information, Det. Morgan proceeded to B & R Video at approximately 11:00 a.m., took possession of the surveillance video from the previous night, and then proceeded to Ricks' apartment to interview her family members and inspect the video. On the video, a clean-shaven, muscular, African-American male wearing a black tank top, light-colored shorts, and white tennis shoes entered B & R Video at approximately 9:50 p.m. on the night Ricks was last seen alive. After watching the video, Det. Morgan concluded that the African-American male on the tape matched Sirvaag's description of the man he had seen at the construction site. Through his interview with Ricks' sister Liberty, Det. Morgan learned that the man on the surveillance video was named Gregory Bolin and that he had recently opened a video rental account at B & R Video.
At approximately 12:30 p.m., Dets. Morgan and Tremel proceeded to the address listed on Bolin's B & R Video rental account, which was located only a few minutes from B & R Video. Bolin's father told them that the previous evening Bolin had left the...
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