Assembly overrides Gibbons veto on grand jury rules; Senate sustains it

The Assembly voted 31-11 late Monday to override the governor's veto of a bill giving defendants additional rights before grand juries.

But the Senate refused to go along so the veto stands with only 8 Democrats backing the override.

AB364 would allow a defendant in a criminal proceeding to file a statement with the grand jury if charges against him had earlier been dismissed in a preliminary hearing.

That statement could include the fact that a judge had dismissed the charges for lack of evidence or other legal problems.

Gibbons vetoed the bill saying the change would open the door to future changes "to the fundamental nature of grand jury proceedings."

"The rights of defendants are already adequately protected during the grand jury phase," he said in his veto statement.

Assemblyman William Horne, D-Las Vegas, who sponsored the bill along with a bipartisan group of Assembly members, said even the district attorneys had agreed they could live with the change. He said the change would provide defendants with some fairness by essentially requiring district attorneys to bring new evidence before a grand jury after losing in a preliminary hearing.

A majority of the Assembly including at least four Republicans joined in overriding the veto.

That sent the measure to the Senate where chances of a veto override were slim since the measure only passed 11-10 there and it takes two-thirds - 14 Senators - to override. The vote in the Senate was 8-13, solidly sustaining the veto.

Other bills vetoed by Gov. Gibbons included:

• AB230, which would have expanded the jurisdiction of justices of the peace handling cattle-rustling cases or other cases stemming from arrests by state Agriculture Department officers;

• AB326, which called for a list of any state buildings constructed of unreinforced masonry. Local governments would have had to list such buildings whether they're public or private property.

• SB66, which would have doubled a cap on damage awards paid by state or local governments to $100,000;

• SB567, a "green" tax-break suspension measure. Lawmakers followed up with a new version of the tax-break plan that lowers 2005 tax breaks so that state and local governments don't lose too much revenue.