SUMMARY--Revises provisions governing attendants who provide support for certain witnesses. (BDR 14-190)
FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: No.
Effect on the State or on Industrial Insurance: No.
EXPLANATION - Matter in italics is new; matter in brackets [ ] is material to be omitted.
AN ACT relating to criminal procedure; revising the provisions governing attendants who provide support for certain witnesses; allowing an attendant to sit next to a witness who is a minor while the witness is testifying; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
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Section 1 NRS 171.204 is hereby amended to read as follows:
171.204 1. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 2, the magistrate may, if good cause is shown and upon the request of any party or on his own motion, exclude from the examination every person except:
(a) The magistrate's clerk;
(b) The attorney general;
(c) The prosecuting attorney;
(d) An investigating officer, after he has testified as a prosecuting witness and his cross-examination has been completed;
(e) Any counsel for the victim;
(f) The victim, after he has testified as a prosecuting witness and his cross-examination has been completed;
(g) The defendant and his counsel;
(h) The witness who is testifying;
(i) The officer having the defendant or a witness in his custody;
(j) An attendant to a [prosecuting] witness designated pursuant to NRS 178.571; and
(k) Any other person whose presence is found by the magistrate to be necessary for the proper conduct of the examination.
2. A person who is called as a witness primarily for the purpose of identifying the victim may not be excluded from the examination except in the discretion of the magistrate.
3. As used in this section, "victim" includes any person described in NRS 178.569.
Sec. 2. NRS 178.571 is hereby amended to read as follows:
178.571 1. [In] Except as otherwise provided in subsection 2, in a case involving [:
(a) A] a violation of NRS 200.366, 200.368 or 200.373, a battery with intent to commit a sexual assault pursuant to NRS 200.400, a violation of any provision of NRS 200.5091 to 200.5099, inclusive, a violation of NRS 201.180, 201.210, 201.220 or 201.230 or an attempt or a conspiracy to commit any of these offenses [; or
(b) An] , the prosecuting witness may designate an attendant who must be allowed to attend the preliminary hearing and the trial during the witness's testimony to provide support.
2. In a case involving an offense in which a minor is [the prosecuting witness, the prosecuting witness] a witness, the witness who is a minor may designate an attendant who must be allowed to attend the preliminary hearing and the trial during the witness's testimony to provide support.
3. The attendant may be designated by a party as a witness and, except as otherwise provided in this section, must not be excluded from the proceedings. If a party designates the attendant as a witness, the attendant must be examined and cross-examined before any other witness testifies.
[2.] 4. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection and subsection [3,] 5, the attendant must not be a reporter or editorial employee of any newspaper, periodical or press association or an employee of any radio or television station. The provisions of this subsection do not apply to an attendant to a [prosecuting] witness in a case involving a violation of any provision of NRS 200.5091 to 200.5099, inclusive.
[3.] 5. The parent, child, brother or sister of the [prosecuting] witness may serve as the [witness's] attendant of the witness whether or not [he] the attendant is a reporter or an editorial employee of any newspaper, periodical or press association or an employee of any radio or television station, but [no such attendant may] the attendant shall not make notes during the hearing or trial.
[4.] 6. The court:
(a) Shall, if the witness requests, allow the attendant to sit next to the witness while the witness is testifying; or
(b) May, if the witness requests that the attendant be in another location in the courtroom while the witness is testifying, allow the attendant to be in that location while the witness is testifying.
7. If the attendant [influences or affects, or] attempts to influence or affect [,] in any manner the testimony of the [prosecuting] witness during the giving of testimony, the court shall exclude that attendant and allow the witness to designate another attendant.
[5.] 8. The defendant may move to exclude a particular attendant for good cause, and the court shall hear the motion out of the presence of the jury, if any. If the court grants the motion, the [prosecuting] witness may designate another attendant.