State v. Dist. Ct. (Supranovich (Thomas)) ( 2015 )

Before you may rely on circumstantial evidence to conclude that a fact necessary to find the defendant guilty has been proved, you must be convinced that the State has proved each fact essential to that conclusion beyond a reasonable doubt. Also, before you may rely on circumstantial evidence to find the defendant guilty, you must be convinced that the only reasonable conclusion supported by the circumstantial evidence is that the defendant is guilty. If you can draw two or more reasonable conclusions from the circumstantial evidence, and one of those reasonable conclusions points to innocence and another to guilt, you must accept the one that points to innocence. However, when considering circumstantial evidence, you must accept only reasonable conclusions and reject any that are unreasonable. Accordingly, we ORDER the petition GRANTED AND DIRECT THE CLERK OF THIS COURT TO ISSUE A WRIT OF MANDAMUS instructing the district court that if it is inclined to give an instruction concerning the interpretation of evidence similar to that challenged in this proceeding, it must be the more complete version set forth above. 1 Douglas Cherry 'We lift the stay entered in this matter on September 18, 2015. SUPREME COURT OF NEVADA 2 (0) I947A cc: Hon. Susan Johnson, District Judge Attorney General/Carson City Clark County District Attorney Clark County Public Defender Eighth District Court Clerk 3