Articles.

A case analysis of Moonin v. Tice, 868 F.3d 853 (9th Cir. 2017): the Nevada Highway Patrol email directive that categorically banned K9 troopers from discussing the K9 program, the thirteen-count federal complaint, the denial of qualified immunity, and the Ninth Circuit affirmance. Mr. McKenna represented the troopers from complaint through oral argument.

A case analysis of Vance v. Judas Priest, the 1990 Washoe County bench trial brought by the families of Raymond Belknap and James Vance against Judas Priest and CBS Records — the pretrial First Amendment ruling on subliminal content, the nineteen-day trial, and what the litigation shows about trial craft. Mr. McKenna was lead counsel for the plaintiffs.

A stage-by-stage practice note on federal criminal procedure in the United States District Court for the District of Nevada — grand jury charging under Rule 7, detention under the Bail Reform Act, the Speedy Trial Act clock, Rule 16 and Brady discovery, advisory Sentencing Guidelines after Booker — and where each stage diverges from Nevada state practice.

A stage-by-stage reference on how a felony prosecution moves through Washoe County — booking at the Washoe County Detention Facility, initial appearance and bail in Reno or Sparks Justice Court, preliminary hearing or grand jury, arraignment in the Second Judicial District Court, and pretrial and trial procedure under NRS Chapters 174 and 175.

A one-page decoder for the acronyms of Nevada legal research — statutes (NRS), regulations (NAC), statewide court rules (NRCP, NRAP, SCR, RPC, DCR), local district rules (EDCR, WDCR), and justice-court rules (JCRCP) — with the hierarchy that connects them and the answer to the “JDCR” search.

The full text of NRS 176.555, the narrow scope the Nevada Supreme Court gave the motion in Edwards v. State, and how the motion to correct an illegal sentence differs from direct appeal, post-conviction habeas under NRS Chapter 34, and a motion for new trial under NRS 176.515.

A short reference on the Nevada request for submission — the filing that routes a fully briefed district-court motion to the judge for decision — covering DCR 13, the Washoe and Clark County local rules, the self-help forms, and why the phrase does not describe any party filing at the Nevada Supreme Court.

A case note on the en banc Ninth Circuit appearance policy decision in Jespersen v. Harrah’s, the Price Waterhouse sex-stereotyping theory Mr. McKenna advanced, and why the four-judge dissent still matters in employment-discrimination litigation.

A definitional walk-through of Nevada Supreme Court Rule 250 — the rule that sets minimum qualifications for lead and second-chair counsel in capital cases — and how the SCR 250 framework interacts with NRS 175.552, the Sixth Amendment effective-assistance standard, and the procedural posture of capital appellate work.

A practitioner-oriented note for Nevada lawyers whose practice does not include serious criminal defense: how to refer or co-counsel a serious criminal matter to Nevada trial counsel, and what direct-referral, co-counsel, and trial-specialist engagements actually mean when more than one Nevada lawyer is on the matter.