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Parsons v. District Court11/30/1994
Per Curiam:
Petitioner David Earl Parsons (Parsons) was charged by criminal complaint with one count of felony driving under the influence (DUI). The justice court granted Parsons' motion to strike one of his prior convictions, amended the complaint to a second-offense misdemeanor DUI charge, allowed Parsons to plead guilty, and sentenced him. The district court granted the State's petition for a writ of certiorari, finding that the justice court's actions were in excess of its jurisdiction. Accordingly, the district court vacated Parsons' conviction and rescheduled the preliminary hearing in justice court. Parsons alleges that the district court erred in granting the State's petition for a writ of certiorari. For the reasons stated below, we conclude that Parsons' contentions are without merit, and deny his petition.
FACTS
Parsons, who had two prior DUI misdemeanor convictions within seven years, was charged by criminal complaint with one count of third-offense felony DUI in violation of NRS 484.379 and NRS 484.3792
[110 Nev. 1239, Page 1241]
A preliminary hearing was scheduled to be held in justice court on April 20, 1992. Immediately prior to the preliminary hearing, however, Parsons' counsel asserted that the second-offense misdemeanor DUI conviction was constitutionally infirm and argued that it should be suppressed. The parties conferred off-the-record with the judge, then commenced the proceeding. At this time, Parsons' counsel made a motion to have the felony offense "stricken down to a second offense DUI" on the basis that the complaint charging Parsons with a second-offense DUI had been improper because it incorrectly stated that the first offense had occurred in Las Vegas, Nevada, rather than in Flagstaff, Arizona. Parsons' counsel thus requested that Parsons be allowed to enter a plea and receive his sentence. The State objected, arguing that the justice court had no jurisdiction to accept a plea to a felony charge, and could only determine whether or not to bind Parsons over to the district court. The justice court noted its opinion that if Parsons had had effective counsel at the time of his hearing on the second DUI charge the problem with the complaint would have been noted and the charge could have been dismissed or reduced to a first-offense DUI. 1 The justice court also noted that the complaint in the instant case listed the prior offenses correctly, but went on to "strike the complaint" and allow Parsons to enter a guilty plea to a second-offense misdemeanor DUI charge. Parsons was sentenced to thirty days in jail, to be served intermittently, and ordered to pay an $800.00 fine. Parsons subsequently fled the jurisdiction, and has neither served his sentence nor paid his fine. The State filed a motion to arrest judgment with the justice court and an appeal of the judgment with the district court, both of which were denied. The State then filed a petition for a writ of certiorari in the district court, arguing that the justice court exceeded its jurisdiction in amending the felony complaint to a misdemeanor and sentencing Parsons. The district court granted the State's petition, issuing an order nullifying Parsons' conviction and rescheduling the preliminary hearing in justice court for a determination of whether or not probable cause existed to bind Parsons over to the district court on the felony charge. Parsons filed this petition for a writ of mandamus or prohibition directing the district court to void its order and vacate the rescheduled preliminary hearing.
[110 Nev. 1239, Page 1242]
DISCUSSION
Standard of review
Petitions for extraordinary writs are addressed to the so
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