McKenna v. State
The Matter.
Capital murder appeal before the Nevada Supreme Court. Death penalty. Full Eighth Amendment constitutional framework, including Witherspoon, Wainwright v. Witt, mitigation standards, and proportionality review under NRS 177.055(2)(d).
What the record shows.
- ¶ 01
Patrick Charles McKenna was convicted of first-degree murder in the 1979 strangulation death of his cellmate, Jack Nobles, at the Clark County Jail. The original conviction had been reversed by the Nevada Supreme Court in McKenna v. State, 98 Nev. 38, 639 P.2d 557 (1982). Following retrial, the conviction and death sentence were affirmed in McKenna v. State, 705 P.2d 614 (Nev. 1985).
- ¶ 02
Kenneth J. McKenna joined the appellate team for the second conviction. The appeal engaged the capital constitutional framework: death-qualified jury selection under Witherspoon v. Illinois, 391 U.S. 510 (1968), and Wainwright v. Witt, 469 U.S. 412 (1985); admissibility of mitigating evidence at capital penalty hearings; executive clemency instructions to capital juries; and proportionality review under NRS 177.055(2)(d).
- ¶ 03
Co-counsel: Morgan Harris (Public Defender), Robert D. Larsen, Margaret Lafko, and Rick Ahlswede.
- ¶ 04
The defendant was Kenneth J. McKenna’s brother. The record is noted precisely: Mr. McKenna stepped into a multi-decade capital matter, representing his own brother against virtually the entire prosecutorial apparatus of the State of Nevada. The related habeas proceeding McKenna v. McDaniel, 65 F.3d 1483 (9th Cir. 1995), describes that during the capital retrial Mr. McKenna was left for three days as the sole attorney for the defense after co-counsel withdrew.
The path through the courts.
- STEP 01Nev. Sup. Ct.McKenna v. State, 705 P.2d 614 (Nev. 1985)Reported
- STEP 02First appeal98 Nev. 38, 639 P.2d 557 (1982)Reported
- STEP 039th Cir. habeasMcKenna v. McDaniel, 65 F.3d 1483 (9th Cir. 1995)Reported
The 1985 opinion is among Nevada’s capital precedents addressing the Eighth Amendment framework governing capital proceedings. The appeal documents substantive engagement with the interconnected doctrines of death qualification of jurors, mitigating-evidence admissibility, capital clemency instructions, and proportionality review.
Lead / Counsel of record — Kenneth J. McKenna, Nevada Bar № 1676
This matter sits within Mr. McKenna’s Criminal Defense practice.