Burnside v. State
Annotate this CaseAfter a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of first-degree murder and related crimes. Defendant was sentenced to death. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the district court did not err by admitting testimony related to cell phone records and cell phone signal transmissions because, even though the State did not notice as an expert the cell phone company employee, who gave testimony relating to the transmission of cell phone signals, the error did not require reversal of the judgment of conviction; (2) the district court erroneously instructed the jury that the State had the burden of proving the “material elements” of an offense beyond a reasonable doubt without defining “material elements,” but the instruction did not warrant reversal; and (3) Defendant’s prior conviction for attempted battery with substantial bodily harm did not constitute a felony involving the use or threat of violence to the person of another for purposes of the aggravating circumstance set forth in Nev. Rev. Stat. 200.033(2)(b), but the jury’s consideration of this invalid aggravating circumstance did not warrant reversal of the death sentence.
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