Opinion
No. 61332
03-14-2013
IN THE MATTER OF: ABDON L.-S., A MINOR, ABDON L.-S., Appellant, v. THE STATE OF NEVADA, Respondent.
An unpublished order shall not be regarded as precedent and shall not be cited as legal authority. SCR 123.
ORDER OF AFFIRMANCE
This is an appeal from a juvenile court order affirming the recommendation of a hearing master to adjudicate appellant, Abdon L.-S., delinquent for possession of burglary tools. Eighth Judicial District Court, Family Court Division, Clark County; William O. Voy, Judge.
Appellant asserts that insufficient evidence supports his adjudication because the State did not prove that he possessed the screwdriver set or intended to use it to commit burglary. We disagree because the evidence, when viewed in the light most favorable to the State, is sufficient to support the adjudication beyond a reasonable doubt. See Matter of T.R., 119 Nev. 646, 649, 80 P.3d 1276, 1278 (2003).
One of the arresting officers, Mark Mikolajczyk, testified that at 2:30 a.m., he and his partner responded to a call of a suspicious white or Hispanic male near a car whose alarm was going off. The suspicious person was reportedly wearing a white shirt and black pants. Mikolajczyk first saw appellant, a Hispanic male wearing a white shirt and black pants, walking down a street and asked him to approach the police car approximately 30 feet away. Appellant complied but acted nervous and gave conflicting stories about the reason he was out. A search of the area where Mikolajczyk originally spotted appellant revealed a screwdriver set with one bit removed. The bit, along with the driver, was on the curb. When Mikolajczyk asked appellant what he was doing with the tools, appellant shrugged his head, lowered it, and said, "I don't know," but did not deny possession of the set. From this evidence, a rational trier of fact could reasonably infer that appellant committed the charged offense. See NRS 205.080; Palmer v. State, 112 Nev. 763, 768-69, 920 P.2d 112, 115 (1996) (discussing actual and constructive possession); Glispey v. Sheriff, 89 Nev. 221, 223-24, 510 P.2d 623, 624 (1973); cf. Buchanan v. State, 119 Nev. 201, 217, 69 P.3d 694, 705 (2003) (circumstantial evidence alone may sustain a conviction). Accordingly, we
ORDER the judgment of the juvenile court AFFIRMED.
____________________________, J.
Gibbons
____________________________, J.
Dauglas
____________________________, J.
Saitta
cc: Hon. William O. Voy, District Judge, Family Court Division
Clark County Public Defender
Attorney General/Carson City
Clark County District Attorney/Juvenile Division
Eighth District Court Clerk