Nevada Supreme Court rejects felon’s case of illegal gun seizure

CARSON CITY — The Nevada Supreme Court has upheld the 2015 conviction of an Elko felon for possession of a firearm after he argued he was the victim of an illegal search and seizure.

The high court originally overturned Ralph Torres’ conviction in 2015. But Attorney General Adam Laxalt appealed two years later to the U.S. Supreme Court, which vacated the decision and remanded the case back to District Court in Nevada.

Citing a similar Utah case the U.S. court overturned in 2016, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled 4-2-1 Tuesday that the arresting officer was allowed to search Torres after he ran a fake ID Torres presented and turned up a previous arrest warrant.

Chief Justice Michael Douglas and Justice Michael Cherry dissented, saying that the officer had engaged in a fishing expedition for evidence in hope that something might turn up.

Justice Linda Stiglich wrote a separate opinion, agreeing in part with the ruling and dissenting in part.

In a statement, Laxalt praised the work of the solicitor general’s unit in his office, which assisted Elko County attorneys on the case.

“This type of communication and collaboration is why I initiated my Law Enforcement Summits that bring together law enforcement from each of Nevada’s counties,” Laxalt said. “It is always immensely gratifying to see the real world benefits for Nevada — here, ensuring that a convicted felon not escape his sentence for unlawfully carrying a firearm.”

A previous version of this article incorrectly reported the breakdown of the court’s ruling.