A sex offense, a child sex offense, or a homicide charge in Stateline or anywhere else in Douglas County puts more at stake than any other kind of case. Many of these charges carry prison terms that run to life, and Nevada law forbids probation for several of them. A conviction for a sexual offense adds registration and a sentence of lifetime supervision that begins only after prison or probation ends.
These cases also bring the most pressure to decide things early. A detective may call before there is any charge. A bail hearing comes within 48 hours of an arrest. A preliminary hearing follows within weeks. Each of those is a point where a decision made without counsel can’t be taken back.
I’m Theodore FitzGerald, a criminal defense lawyer in Stateline. I work from one rule: the government has to follow the law at every step. In a serious felony case that rule matters most, from the first call from a detective through the preliminary hearing and beyond, and I hold the State to it at every stage.
If a detective contacts you
Serious cases often begin with contact before any arrest: a phone call, a business card left at the door, a request to come to the station and “clear things up.” The U.S. and Nevada constitutions both protect your right not to be a witness against yourself, and you do not have to answer a detective’s questions. The safest course is the simplest: say you will not answer questions without a lawyer, and then call one.
Two points of law make that more than caution. First, Miranda warnings are required only for questioning in custody. A detective who asks you to come in on your own, and tells you that you are free to leave, generally does not have to give them. Second, in a voluntary interview, staying quiet may not be enough. The U.S. Supreme Court has allowed a prosecutor to use a man’s silence in a voluntary interview as evidence against him at trial, where he had answered other questions and never said he was relying on his right. Saying it out loud matters.
This applies even when you believe a short conversation would clear everything up. Anything you say can become part of the State’s case, and a lawyer can find out what the investigation is about before you decide whether to say anything at all.
If you receive notice of a grand jury. In Nevada, a person whose indictment a grand jury is considering is usually entitled to notice, which must give at least five judicial days to ask to testify. A person who wants to testify has to request it in writing and sign a written waiver of the right against self-incrimination. Whether to do that is one of the most consequential decisions in a case, and it should never be made without a lawyer.
How a serious felony case moves in Douglas County
Most felony cases start in one of Douglas County’s two justice courts: the Tahoe Justice Court for the lake, or the East Fork Justice Court in Minden for the Carson Valley. A justice court cannot try a felony, so no plea is taken there.
The preliminary hearing. Unless it is waived, the justice of the peace hears the State’s evidence within 15 days, unless the time is extended for good cause. The question is not guilt. It is whether there is probable cause to believe the offense was committed and that the defendant committed it, and the Nevada Supreme Court has said that showing “[m]ay be based on slight, even ‘marginal’ evidence.” Because the bar is low, the hearing seldom ends a serious case. What it does is put the State’s witnesses under oath, on the record, early, and that transcript becomes the basis for a challenge in district court.
District court. If the defendant is held to answer, the prosecutor files an information in the Ninth Judicial District Court within 15 days. The district court shares a building with East Fork in Minden, and it is where the arraignment, motions, trial, and sentencing take place. A pretrial habeas petition arguing that the evidence did not establish probable cause has to be filed within 21 days after the first appearance in district court, with limited extensions.
Indictment instead. The Nevada Constitution allows a felony to be prosecuted by information or by grand jury indictment. An indicted case goes directly to district court, without a preliminary hearing.
The full sequence, from booking through sentencing, is on What Happens After an Arrest in Douglas County, Nevada.
Bail in a serious felony case
Nevada’s starting point is that a person arrested for any offense other than first-degree murder “must be admitted to bail.” For first-degree murder, bail may be denied only when “the proof is evident or the presumption great.” Other rules can apply: a person arrested for a felony while on probation or parole for something else is not admitted to bail unless a court or the parole authorities direct it.
A court has to hold a pretrial release hearing within 48 hours of custody, and it may impose bail or conditions only as the least restrictive means of protecting the community and securing the defendant’s return. The Nevada Supreme Court has held that when bail would keep someone in jail, the defendant is entitled to a prompt, individualized hearing with counsel, the State must prove “by clear and convincing evidence” that no less restrictive alternative will do, and the court must consider what the defendant can afford in setting any amount. The court has to state its findings on the record.
In a serious case, the bail hearing is where the defendant’s history, ties, work, and family are put in front of the court, and where conditions such as no-contact orders and travel limits are set. Getting someone out of the Douglas County jail is covered in detail on Bail, Custody, and Getting Out of the Douglas County Jail.
What families ask about: sentences, probation, registration
Homicide. Murder in Nevada is a category A felony. First-degree murder carries life without parole, life with parole eligibility after 20 years, or a 50-year term with parole eligibility after 20 years; the death penalty is possible only under narrow statutory conditions. Second-degree murder carries life with parole eligibility after 10 years, or a 25-year term with parole eligibility after 10 years.
No probation. For a conviction in district court of first- or second-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping, sexual assault, attempted sexual assault of a child under 16, or lewdness with a child, the court “shall not suspend the execution of the sentence imposed or grant probation.”
Lifetime supervision. When a defendant is convicted of a sexual offense as Nevada defines it, the court must include “a special sentence of lifetime supervision,” which begins after any prison term, probation, or parole ends.
Registration. A person convicted of a sexual offense or a crime against a child must register with local law enforcement and keep the registration current, including registering within 48 hours of living in a Nevada county.
Immigration. For anyone who is not a U.S. citizen, a serious felony conviction can carry immigration consequences on top of the sentence. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that defense counsel must advise a noncitizen client whether a plea carries a risk of deportation.
Defending a serious felony charge
I take serious felony cases, including sex offenses, child sex offenses, and homicide. I take them carefully. Before I accept one, I want to understand it, and once I do, it is defended fully.
That means every page of discovery is read and every recording reviewed, the State’s witnesses are examined at the preliminary hearing with the district-court challenge already in mind, and the State’s experts are answered with experts of our own where the case calls for it. The bail hearing is prepared like a hearing, not a formality. The 21-day habeas deadline, the grand jury notice window, and the motions deadlines are tracked from the first day. Any discussion of a plea happens only after the evidence has been tested, and the decision is the client’s.
If you are a parent, spouse, or relative, you are probably the person who made the first call, and you may be the person paying. The person charged is the client. What they tell me stays between us unless they decide otherwise, and the decisions the law gives a defendant, whether to plead, whether to waive a jury, whether to testify, are theirs. That is a protection for the person you love: it means the defense answers to them. How hiring works explains how a family member can pay for the defense.
If a detective has called, or someone you love has been arrested, hire me now, and I’ll get to work. Call FitzGerald Law.