Hicks v. Sheriff, Clark County
Nevada Supreme Court
86 Nev. 67 (1970)
- Written by Kelli Lanski, JD
Facts
The body of Glenn Christiernsson was found in the Nevada desert. Kenneth Hicks (defendant) was charged with Christiernsson’s murder. After a preliminary investigation, the charge was dismissed due to a lack of corpus delicti—i.e., evidence that Christiernsson’s death was the result of Hicks’s criminal conduct. The sheriff of Clark County (the state) (plaintiff) then filed a petition asking permission to file a new information against Hicks, to which it attached an affidavit from Hicks’s jailhouse cellmate. The cellmate’s affidavit claimed that Hicks confessed to murdering Christiernsson by beating and stabbing him. There was no evidence that Christiernsson had been beaten or stabbed, nor did the state produce any other evidence about how Christiernsson died. Instead, the state’s evidence tying Hicks to the alleged crime included that he was driving Christiernsson’s car at the time of his arrest and that he and Christiernsson were seen together shortly before Christiernsson disappeared. The court granted the state’s request to file an information, and Hicks was rearrested. Hicks applied for a writ of habeas corpus, which the court denied. Hicks appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Batjer, J.)
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