Wright v. State, 9987

Citation94 Nev. 415, 581 P.2d 442
Case DateJuly 12, 1978
CourtSupreme Court of Nevada

Page 442

581 P.2d 442
94 Nev. 415
Eddie Dean WRIGHT, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Nevada, Respondent.
No. 9987.
Supreme Court of Nevada.
July 12, 1978.

Morgan D. Harris, Public Defender and R. Michael Gardner, Deputy Public Defender, Clark County, Las Vegas, for appellant.

Robert List, Atty. Gen., Carson City, George E. Holt, Dist. Atty., H. Leon Simon and Gordon C. Richards, Deputy Dist. Attys., Las Vegas, for respondent.

[94 Nev. 416] OPINION

THOMPSON, Justice.

This appeal is from judgments entered upon jury verdicts finding Eddie Dean Wright guilty on three counts of robbery with the use of a deadly weapon (NRS 200.380; NRS 193.165), and three counts of kidnaping with the use of a deadly weapon (NRS 200.310(1); NRS 193.165), 1 for which he has been sentenced to serve respectively three terms of 30 years on the robbery charges and three terms of life with the possibility of parole on the kidnaping

Page 443

charges. All sentences are to run concurrently.

Shortly after midnight on February 11, 1977, three young black males entered the lobby of the Ambassador Motel in Las Vegas. One of them, Wright, pulled a revolver on the night clerk, while another drew on the night auditor. After emptying the cash register behind the counter the two victims were told to walk to a back office, a distance of 20 to 40 feet. The night auditor subsequently was taken back to the lobby to open the safe. Upon his return to the back office he and the clerk were told to lie face down on the floor where they were taped hand and foot. A motel guest who had entered the lobby also was taken to the back office and taped. The victims were threatened while lying on the floor. The robbers then left. The episode lasted three to five minutes.

1. The appellant contends that the kidnaping involved a contemporaneous robbery and should not be considered a separate crime citing People v. Levy, 15 N.Y.2d 159, 256 N.Y.S.2d 793, 204 N.E.2d 842 (N.Y.1965), and People v. Daniels, 71 Cal.2d 1119, 80 Cal.Rptr. 897, 459 P.2d 225 (Cal.1969). In Levy the court noted that it was common in robbery to confine a victim at gunpoint, or bind and detain him, or move him to another room. The court then concluded that it was unlikely that the legislature intended for the offender to be guilty of kidnaping even though that crime could be found by a literal application of the words of the kidnaping statute.

[94 Nev. 417] In Daniels the court ruled that if the movements of the victim are incidental to the commission of the robbery and do not substantially increase the risk of...

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  • People v. Wesley, Docket Nos. 66597
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of Michigan
    • February 1, 1985
    ...203, 547 P.2d 720 (1976); Cuevas v. State, 338 So.2d 1236 (Miss.1976); State v. Johnson, 549 S.W.2d 627 (Mo.App.1977); Wright v. State, 94 Nev. 415, 581 P.2d 442 (1978); People v. Levy, 15 N.Y.2d 159, 256 N.Y.S.2d 793, 204 N.E.2d 842 (1965), cert. den. 381 U.S. 938, 85 S.Ct. 1770, 14 L.Ed.2......
  • State v. Miller, 16583
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of West Virginia
    • November 8, 1985
    ......222, 205 N.W.2d 415, 59 A.L.R.3d 1288 (1973); State v. McEwan, 265 N.W.2d 818 (Minn.1978); Cuevas v. State, 338 So.2d 1236 (Miss.1976); Wright v. State, 94 Nev. 415, 581 P.2d 442 (1978); State v. Masino, supra; People v. Levy, supra; State v. Fulcher, 294 N.C. 503, 243 S.E.2d 338 (1978); ......
  • Mobley v. State, s. 59051
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Florida
    • January 28, 1982
    ...Mich. 222, 205 N.W.2d 415 (1973); State v. McEwan, 265 N.W.2d 818 (Minn.1978); Cuevas v. State, 338 So.2d 1236 (Miss.1976); Wright v. State, 581 P.2d 442 (Nev.1978); People v. Lombardi, 20 N.Y.2d 266, 282 N.Y.S.2d 519, 229 N.E.2d 206 (1967); State v. Fulcher, 34 N.C.App. 233, 237 S.E.2d 909......
  • State v. Robinson
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    • United States State Supreme Court of Iowa
    • February 6, 2015
    ...substantially increased the risk of harm to the victim beyond that inherent in the underlying crime”); see also Wright v. State, 94 Nev. 415, 581 P.2d 442, 443–44 (1978), modified in part by Mendoza v. State, 122 Nev. 267, 130 P.3d 176, 180 & n. 19 (2006) (noting that dual convictions are p......
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