The Nevada Supreme Court has rejected one petition for review in a Humboldt County murder case while ordering the district court to take a look at the petition filed in a Las Vegas case.
Anthony Lamar Bagley was sentenced to two consecutive life terms for the murder of Curtis Henry in April 1998, allegedly over a $1,000 debt.
His petition for a hearing to show he is being illegally detained was rejected by District Judge Joseph Bonaventure in Las Vegas because it was filed just one day after the statutory limit.
Bagley argued he missed the deadline only because the photocopier in the Ely Prison was broken from late May through July 15, 2002, interfering with his ability to file the petition on time.
The high court panel of Justices Nancy Becker, Miriam Shearing and Mark Gibbons agreed with Bagley that the broken copier was "an impediment external to the defense."
"A prisoner must, in large part, rely upon the prison to provide access to tools used to facilitate access to the courts," the order says.
Since it was beyond his control, the justices ordered the district court to take another look at why Bagley missed the deadline and, if he can prove his claims, accept the habeas petition and review the merits of all his claims seeking to overturn his conviction.
The same three justice panel rejected Roger Libby's petition to bring his case back to court.
Libby is on death row for murdering James Robertson, 24, and Charles Beatty, 28, in 1988. He was captured in Missouri driving Beatty's car with the murder weapon, a rifle, under the front seat.
He claims his lawyer was ineffective and made a variety of errors that weakened his case and accused the prosecutor of misconduct during the case.
The justices rejected all Libby's claims and affirmed the district court decision by John Iroz of Humboldt County rejecting the petition.
