The Nevada Supreme Court this week modified a September order, opening the door for the Carson City District Attorney’s Office to refile charges in a child sexual assault case.
The high court last year upheld the dismissal of 10 counts of sexual assault involving two sisters who, at the time, were under the age of 10. The court agreed with Carson District Judge James Wilson the charges didn’t give defendant Jeffrey Volosin enough information about when the crimes occurred to defend himself.
The criminal information states South Lake Tahoe investigators discovered the crimes, turning up allegations the girls were abused while living in Carson City and the abuse occurred when one was aged 7-9 and the other from ages 6-15.
Wilson ruled the charges were so vague they violated the defendant’s 6th Amendment rights to due process because they didn’t give him anywhere near enough information to defend himself.
The original high-court decision dismissed the charges “with prejudice,” meaning they couldn’t be brought back. The original order charged the Carson DA’s office “appears to have filed the (charges) without performing any independent investigation.”
But the court this week amended that ruling, removing the words “with prejudice” from several paragraphs in the original order.
That effectively gives the Carson DA’s office the opportunity to bring the charges back by refilling the criminal information with more details and specifics to support the charges.
While the Carson City charges remain in limbo following the latest ruling, Volosin faces an 11-count complaint filed by the Eldorado County DA’s office charging similar offenses including lewdness with a child and sex acts with a person under age 16.
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