Pinney Jr. (Kenneth) v. State of Nevada, 140 Nev. Adv. Op. 71 (Nov. 21, 2024)

The Nevada Court of Appeals reversed the judgment of conviction and remanded for a new trial for appellant Kenneth Ray Joseph Pinney, Jr. The Court concluded that the district court erred in applying the incorrect test to exclude evidence of the victim Jorge Ramirez-More’s prior violent acts, and such an error was not harmless. In Burgeon v. State, the Court held that a victim’s prior acts are admissible as evidence if the defendant raises a self-defense claim and had knowledge of such acts. Here, the State argued that Tinch v. State altered the Burgeon holding. However, the Court disagreed and reasoned that Tinch instead clarified the test for admitting prior uncharged bad acts pursuant to NRS 48.045(2). The Court concluded that Burgeon remains the proper standard for evaluating the defendant’s request to admit evidence of the victim’s previous acts of violence in self-defense claims. Because the district court failed to apply the Burgeon test when evaluating Pinney’s request to admit evidence of the victim’s prior violent acts, the court abused its discretion.