Leighty (Daniel) v. State ( 2014 )

 girlfriend. Robbins told Cater that they needed to go outside to talk to the
person and threatened that he would shove Cater's head into a slot
machine or knife him if Cater did not go with him. Cater exited the casino
with Robbins, Angel, and Leighty. They all got into a Subaru, with
Leighty driving and Cater in the front passenger seat. Cater was
blindfolded with a T-shirt and Robbins threatened Cater that if he took off
the blindfold or talked Robbins would "gut" him. Cater was taken to a
building and directed to sit down and the blindfold was removed. Cater
recognized the room he was in as an automotive paint booth in a body
shop. After a while, Robbins left to pick up the person Cater was to talk
to. While waiting, Angel told Cater everything was going to be ok, he just
needed to tell the truth, and they wanted him to write a statement "that
the people who robbed you in the Cal-Neva were there to help you move,
that you fell down in the shower, and you stumbled off to the middle of the
room and passed out because you broke your nose falling out of the
shower." Robbins returned shortly thereafter and told Cater that he
would kill Cater and kidnap Cater's son if he did not convince Krystyna
and fill out the statement. Sometime after Robbins returned, two other
people, Cowboy and Taylor, arrived at the body shop. Robbins continued
to threaten Cater for a period of time and, at some point, Cater was made
to stand, the chair was moved, plastic was rolled out on the floor beneath
him, the chair was replaced, and he was directed to sit back down. Cater
testified that he was afraid that they were going to knife or "gut" him.
Cater ultimately wrote the statement he was directed to write, signed it,
and left it on a table in the paint booth. After he signed the statement, the
blindfold was replaced, Cater was put back in the car, and Angel and
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someone else drove him back to the downtown area, forcing him out of the
car while it was moving.
Cater testified that, although Leighty never spoke during the
entire incident, he could see Leighty in his peripheral vision and Leighty
was "milling around" behind him. He further testified that he believed it
was Leighty that rolled the plastic underneath him.
Leighty's police interview was shown to the jury. During the
interview, Leighty admitted that he drove the Subaru to the body shop
and he had keys to the body shop because he had occasionally worked
there. Leighty denied any knowledge of what Robbins and Angel had
planned to do to Cater and stated that he did not spend much time in the
paint booth. Leighty stated he heard some comments that made him
realize things were getting scary and, at that time, his main concern was
to get Cater out of the shop safely. Although Leighty denied any
knowledge of a threat to Cater's son, he thought that there had been
mention of a young girl or boy. Leighty admitted that he and Angel drove
Cater back downtown and that Cater was blindfolded at this time.
The police also recovered numerous text messages that were
exchanged between Leighty and Robbins during and after the incident.
Two messages were sent by Leighty during the incident telling Robbins to
hurry up and they had to be out of the building by 5:00 a.m. After the
incident, Leighty sent Robbins one message informing him that he was
"flying under the radar" and another saying that they needed to sell the
car, get the Infinity, and leave so they could get at least a 10-12 hour head
start.
The jury could reasonably infer from the evidence presented
that Robbins and/or Angel intimidated a witness by threatening to kill or
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cause injury to Cater and/or Cater's son unless Cater recanted his
accusations against Robinson and that Leighty aided and abetted Robbins
and/or Angel by acting as a driver and providing access to the auto body
shop. See NRS 199.240(2)(a). It is for the jury to determine the weight
and credibility to give conflicting testimony, and the jury's verdict will not
be disturbed on appeal where, as here, substantial evidence supports the
verdict. See Bolden. v. State, 97 Nev. 71, 73, 624 P.2d 20, 20 (1981); see
also McNair v. State, 108 Nev. 53, 56, 825 P.2d 571, 573 (1992).
Therefore, we
ORDER the judgment of conviction AFFIRMED.
J.
Hardesty
, J.
Cherry
cc: Hon. Scott N. Freeman, District Judge
Edward T. Reed
Attorney General/Carson City
Washoe County District Attorney
Washoe District Court Clerk
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