Dawson (Clifton) v. State, 140 Nev. Adv. Op. 72 (Nov. 21, 2024)

Appellant Clifton Dawson sexually assaulted C.V. in 1997 but was only linked to the crime and sentenced in 2022. The district court adjudicated Dawson as a habitual criminal according to the relevant statute when he committed his offense in 1997, which requires three prior felony convictions. The Court reviewed Dawson’s challenges to his sentencing regarding the operative habitual criminal statute and the required number of prior felony convictions. The Court held that when adjudicating a defendant as a habitual criminal, the operative statute is the one that was in effect when the defendant committed his charged offense, not the one that was in effect during the defendant’s sentencing. Thus, the Court upheld the district court’s statute used during Dawson’s sentencing. The Court held that three required felony convictions must have predated the charged offense for a habitual criminal adjudication. The Court vacated Dawson’s sentencing because the State only proved that two, not three, of his felony convictions predated Dawson’s charged offense. Accordingly, the Court remanded the case for a district court judge to hold a new sentencing hearing to determine if Dawson had three prior felony convictions.