In this section, our attorneys explain Nevada’s criminal laws and legal concepts, A to Z
Criminal Law A to Z
In this section, our attorneys explain Nevada’s criminal laws and legal concepts, A to Z
Crimes by NRS Section
Every crime in Nevada is based in a section of the Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS). For each crime, our attorneys explain the laws, penalties and best defenses to fight the charge.
Nevada DUI
Getting arrested for DUI does not mean you will be convicted. Police misconduct, defective breathalyzers and crime lab mistakes may be enough to get your charges lessened or dismissed. Visit our page on Nevada DUI Laws to learn more.
Post-Conviction
Even if you’ve already been convicted of a crime, there is still much you can do to seal your record and restore your rights. Our attorneys explain how.
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Hundreds of thousands of non-citizens in Nevada face immigration consequences for prior criminal convictions. These consequences affect legal and illegal immigrants alike and can include deportation, denial of re-entry, and denial of the chance for naturalization to the United States. But non-citizens have hope in post-conviction relief.
Post-conviction relief refers to an area of criminal law where people convicted of a criminal offense can try to go back and modify, and sometimes vacate, their prior convictions. Sometimes this involves seeking retroactively to reduce or change sentencing.
For example, an aggravated felony triggers immigration consequences when the sentence is 365 days or longer. Modifying a sentence to, say, 364 days can sometimes stop a person’s deportation.
A motion to vacate a prior conviction is the most common form of post-conviction relief in Nevada. A defendant uses the motion to help withdraw a guilty plea.
The most common basis for the motion is failure to advise the defendant of immigration consequences. Here, a defense attorney will try to convince the court that at the time the client accepted a plea bargain and pled guilty or no contest, he was not apprised of the immigration ramifications. Had he been, he would not have entered the deal. Learn more in our article, “Can I withdraw a guilty plea in Nevada?”
Even if a motion to vacate succeeds, it really is only half the battle. All that it typically does is allow the defendant to withdraw his plea. The original charges then get reinstated, and the case is reopened.
Once this occurs, a Nevada criminal defense attorney must fight the case anew, or convince the prosecutor to offer a different plea bargain that won’t trigger immigration consequences. While the entire process may be arduous, it’s often the last line of defense for an immigrant seeking to remain in the United States. Learn more about criminal defense of immigrants in Nevada.
A former Los Angeles prosecutor, attorney Neil Shouse graduated with honors from UC Berkeley and Harvard Law School (and completed additional graduate studies at MIT). He has been featured on CNN, Good Morning America, Dr Phil, The Today Show and Court TV. Mr Shouse has been recognized by the National Trial Lawyers as one of the Top 100 Criminal and Top 100 Civil Attorneys.
With President-elect Donald Trump promising mass deportation of immigrants with criminal records, many California residents who are not U.S. citizens and have suffered criminal convictions are (rightly) concerned about their future. But Proposition 64, which legalized recreational marijuana in California, may offer help to those whose convictions were for marijuana-related offenses. Passed by California voters on November 8, ...
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has not recently conducted any large-scale raids in Denver, Colorado, on the scale of what occurred in 2019. During one operation that year, ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers apprehended 63 non-citizens.1 But even though ICE is not arresting immigrants on the scale it used to, all removable ...
An arrest for driving under the influence (DUI/DWI) can result in the revocation of an H-1B visa. A DUI arrest can also result in the non-renewal of an H-1B visa. Consular officials with the U.S. Department of State have the discretion to take either of these actions (revocation or non-renewal) depending on the facts of ...
Yes. Fresh fears are pervading Las Vegas’s immigrant population as the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) begins training seven more officers to serve as immigration agents at the Clark County Detention Center (CCDC) downtown. These officers will participate in the 287(g) program, which allows law enforcement the right to investigate an arrestee’s immigration status ...