State of Nevada v. Edward A. Preiado

Las Vegas, Nevada, criminal defense lawyers Lisa Rasmussen and Lisa A. Rasmussen represented the Defendant charge with voluntary manslaughter with the use of a deadly weapon.

Edward Preciado engaged in a physical altercation
with Kim Long. During the altercation, Preciado repeatedly struck
Long in the head with a hammer, killing her. Preciado claimed self-
defense, but a jury convicted Preciado of voluntary manslaughter
with the use of a deadly weapon. The district court sentenced Pre-
ciado to the maximum of 4 to 10 years in prison, with a consecutive
4 to 10 years for the weapon enhancement.

* * *

Meaningful appellate review is inextricably linked to the avail-
ability of an accurate record of the lower court proceedings regard-
ing the issues on appeal; therefore, a defendant is entitled to have
the most accurate record of his or her district court proceedings
possible. See Daniel v. State, 119 Nev. 498, 507-08, 78 P.3d 890,
897 (2003). In Daniel, we determined that SCR 250(5)(a) and due
process require a district court to record all sidebar proceedings in a
capital case either contemporaneously with the matter’s resolution,
or the sidebar’s contents must be placed on the record at the next
break in trial. Id.
Due process requires us to extend our reasoning in Daniel to de-
fendants in noncapital cases, because regardless of the type of case,
it is crucial for a district court to memorialize all bench conferences,
either contemporaneously or by allowing the attorneys to make a
record afterward.

The district court sentenced Preciado to the maximum of 4 to 10 years in prison, with a consecutive 4 to 10 years for the weapon enhancement.

Affirmed