Zana v. State

Summary

The Supreme Court of Nevada affirmed Mark R. Zana's convictions for lewdness with a child and possession of visual representations depicting sexual conduct involving a person under 16. The court held that testimony concerning prior conduct was admissible despite related proceedings having been sealed or expunged, so long as the testimony was limited to witnesses' personal experiences and did not reference the proceedings. It also held that a juror's unauthorized Internet search did not prejudice the verdict and that the lewdness and pornography charges were properly joined because the evidence was cross-admissible.

Holdings

1. A court may admit testimony confined to a witness's personal experience of a defendant's prior conduct even when the resulting criminal proceedings were sealed or expunged, provided the witness does not rely on or disclose the sealed or expunged court proceedings.
2. A juror's independent Internet search for a website mentioned during trial constituted the use of extrinsic evidence and violated the Confrontation Clause, but the unsuccessful and ambiguous search did not prejudice the verdict and therefore did not require a new trial or mistrial.
3. The district court did not abuse its discretion by denying severance because evidence of the lewdness charges and evidence of the pornography charges were mutually cross-admissible in separate trials.

Questions Presented

1. Whether testimony about a defendant's prior conduct may be admitted when the related criminal proceedings were sealed or expunged.
2. Whether a juror's independent Internet search constituted prejudicial misconduct requiring a new trial or mistrial.
3. Whether the district court abused its discretion by refusing to sever the lewdness counts from the pornography-possession counts when the evidence was mutually cross-admissible.

Disposition

affirmed