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Crawford v. State10/20/2005
Affirmed.
BEFORE THE COURT EN BANC.
OPINION ON REHEARING
The district court convicted appellant David Wayne Crawford, upon a jury verdict, of the first-degree murder of Gloria Dugan with the use of a deadly weapon. In this appeal from his conviction, Crawford argues that the district court erred by: (1) instructing the jury on a theory of criminal culpability that the State had not alleged in the amended information; (2) refusing to instruct the jurors that they had to unanimously agree that Crawford committed burglary before considering the State's felony-murder theory; (3) refusing to give the defendant's proposed jury instructions on heat of passion and diminished capacity; and (4) curtailing his cross-examination of a witness.
We reject all of Crawford's contentions but one. In resolving Crawford's contention respecting his proposed jury instruction on heat of passion, we have revisited our prior decisions addressing a criminal defendant's entitlement to instructions advising the jury of the significance of the defendant's theory of defense. We now retreat from our holding in Stroup v. State and overrule that decision to the extent that it permits the district court to reject a criminal defendant's proposed jury instructions specifically advising the jury of the significance of the defense theory of the case. We further conclude, however, that under the facts and circumstances of this case any error respecting the jury instruction at issue was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Accordingly, we affirm Crawford's conviction.
FACTS
The victim, Gloria Dugan, dated Crawford for approximately seven months while she resided in the Las Vegas residence of her fiancé, a serviceman who was stationed in Korea at the time. Crawford believed that Dugan was going to end the engagement and at one point contacted Dugan's fiancé and informed him that Dugan planned on ending their engagement and marrying Crawford instead.
Throughout the weekend prior to the murder, however, Dugan avoided Crawford. On Sunday night, March 24, 1997, Dugan visited a friend, Michael Lemon, at his apartment where they watched a movie. Telephone records indicated that Crawford placed several unanswered calls to Dugan's residence that evening. Crawford was upset and believed that Dugan was avoiding him because she was involved with another man. Around 10:25 p.m., on Sunday night, Crawford went to Dugan's residence to discuss their relationship. According to Crawford, he took his gun to scare Dugan into telling the truth.
Dugan had returned home by the time Crawford arrived. She let Crawford into the house, and eventually their conversation became heated. Crawford confronted her about whether she was dating another man. Dugan denied seeing anyone else, but Crawford did not believe her. He claimed he displayed his gun without pointing it at her, hoping that it would make her take him seriously. When Dugan smirked in response, Crawford became enraged and shot Dugan numerous times, killing her in what he described as the "heat of the moment." Afterward in a hysterical state, he called a friend and told her that he had killed Dugan because she was lying to him. Subsequently, Crawford unsuccessfully attempted suicide by slitting his wrists.
The State arrested Crawford and eventually charged him by way of an amended information with first-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon. The information alleged two alternative theories of first-degree murder: (1) that Crawford committed a willful, deliberate, and premeditated murder, as defined in NRS 200.030(1)(a); and (2) that under NRS 200.030(1)(b), Crawford committed felony murder by kil
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