Las Vegas Justice Ct. v. State ( 2016 )

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEVADA
LAS VEGAS JUSTICE COURT; AND No. 67209
DIANA L. SULLIVAN, JUSTICE OF
THE PEACE,
Appellants,
FILED
vs. MAR 2 1 2016
THE STATE OF NEVADA,
TRACIE K. LIIVDEMAN
R espondent. CLERK OF SUPREME COURT
By
DEPUTY CLERK
ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO DISMISS APPEAL
This is an appeal from a district court order granting
respondent's petition for a writ of mandamus and directing the justice
court to file a third amended complaint in an underlying criminal case.
Eighth Judicial District Court, Clark County; Carolyn Ellsworth, Judge.
Respondent has filed a motion to dismiss this appeal based on,
among other things, a contention that appellants are not aggrieved by the
order challenged on appeal and thus lack standing to appeal. Appellants
have filed an opposition and respondent has replied. Having considered
these filings, we agree with respondent.
Only an aggrieved party may appeal. NRAP 3A(a); Valley
Bank of Nevada v. Ginsburg, 110 Nev. 440, 446, 874 P.2d 729, 734 (1994).
A party is aggrieved "when either a personal right or right of property is
adversely and substantially affected' by a district court's ruling." Valley
Bank, 110 Nev. at 446, 874 P.2d at 734 (quoting Estate of Hughes v. First
Nat'l Bank, 96 Nev. 178, 180, 605 P.2d 1149, 1150 (1980)). The personal
or property rights of appellants were not affected by the district court's
order. And we decline appellants' invitation to adopt foreign authority
holding that a lower court has standing to challenge a decision that affects
the validity of its procedures. Therefore, we conclude that appellants are
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not "aggrieved" such that they have standing to appeal the district court's
order' and we
ORDER this appeal DISMISSED.
Gibbons
cc: Hon. Carolyn Ellsworth, District Judge
Joseph A. Tommasino
Attorney General/Carson City
Clark County District Attorney
Eighth District Court Clerk
'Given this conclusion, we decline to address respondent's remaining
contentions.
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CHERRY, J., dissenting:
I disagree with the majority and would accept appellants'
invitation to adopt foreign authority holding that a lower court has
standing to challenge a decision that affects the validity of its procedures.
I congratulate Justice of the Peace Diana L. Sullivan in her
now unsuccessful but gallant attempt to stop "Judge shopping" in the Las
Vegas Justice Court.
This case illustrates an obvious attempt by the State to avoid
the random assignment of criminal cases in the Las Vegas Justice Court.
For the above reasons I respectfully dissent.
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