Larson v. State

Decision Date08 October 1986
Docket NumberNo. 16908,16908
Citation725 P.2d 1214,102 Nev. 448
PartiesSonny James LARSON, Appellant, v. The STATE of Nevada, Respondent.
CourtNevada Supreme Court
OPINION

PER CURIAM:

Two issues are raised by this appeal: (1) Whether appellant was improperly convicted of two counts of kidnapping, where the facts of the case demonstrate, at best, only one act of kidnapping and only one victim; and (2) whether the trial court's refusal to admit a photograph of the victim mandates reversal. We are persuaded that the first contention is meritorious, and therefore vacate the judgment as to the second count of kidnapping; however, we find that the exclusion of the photograph does not require reversal, and therefore affirm the remaining convictions.

The victim testified that appellant approached her at night while she was standing alone at a bus stop. He pointed a gun at her and demanded that she accompany him to a nearby railroad car. She testified that he then sexually assaulted her several times, involving both fellatio and intercourse. Following the assault, appellant offered to drive the victim home, and she replied that she would rather take the bus. He accompanied her back to the bus stop. When she discovered that she had forgotten her wig, he returned to the scene of the assault to recover the wig at her request. He again joined the victim at the bus stop, and allowed her to board her bus. Appellant testified, admitting the sexual acts occurred, but claimed they were consensual.

We hold that, as a matter of law, only one kidnapping occurred. The facts demonstrate that the act involved a single victim. The detention accompanying the asportation was continuous, and the act of returning the victim to the place of abduction did not in any way increase the risk to the victim. See, e.g., People v. Klinkhanner, 105 Ill.App.3d 747, 61 Ill.Dec. 480, 482, 434 N.E.2d 835, 837 (1982); 21 Am.Jur.2d, Criminal Law, § 268 (1981). As the United States Supreme Court has stated: "The Double Jeopardy Clause is not such a fragile guarantee that prosecutors can avoid its limitations by the simple expedient of dividing a single crime into a series of temporal or spatial units." Brown v. Ohio, 432 U.S. 161, 169, 97 S.Ct. 2221, 2227, 53 L.Ed.2d 187 (1977).

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  • Stringer v. State, 22008
    • United States
    • Nevada Supreme Court
    • 2 Julio 1992
    ...the issues or of misleading the jury." This determination rests within the sound discretion of the trial court. Larson v. State, 102 Nev. 448, 449, 725 P.2d 1214, 1215 (1986). Faessel shot Montgomery solely because he was black. Accordingly, we conclude that the evidence at issue was german......

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