Justices: Wrong casino but right sentence
CARSON CITY - Nice try, Billy Carr, but the Nevada Supreme Court doesn't buy your argument.
And for the theft of casino chips at the Luxor and other convictions over the years, you must spend at least the next 10 years in prison as a habitual criminal.
The Supreme Court, in an order dated Friday, unanimously upheld the burglary and grand larceny conviction Carr received from a Clark County jury, though detectives questioned him about stealing from a patron at the wrong place - Mandalay Bay.
Carr himself told police during questioning that he stole $2,500 to $3,000 from player Robert Morton on Feb. 9, 2010, in Mandalay Bay. He expressed no confusion about the location, according to the Supreme Court.
Justices said Carr grabbed the chips from Morton at a roulette table in the Luxor and ran away. Morton chased Carr and recovered about $700 of the chips. Police and Luxor surveillance officers then reviewed the videotape of the theft and identified Carr from a previous chip theft in 2009 at the Excalibur.
Despite his confession, Carr in his appeal to the Supreme Court brought up that the crime had been committed in the Luxor, not Mandalay Bay.
But state laws on burglary require only that someone "entered a building with the intent to commit a crime," justices said. The specific name of the building does not have to be listed. The correct address for the Luxor was placed in the criminal charges against Carr.
Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.
