Appeals court overrules quashing of conviction in Reno

RENO – A federal appeals court has reversed a lower court’s decision that had tossed the murder conviction of a Reno woman for the 1997 shooting and robbery of a taxicab driver.

Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto announced Friday that a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a decision that had set aside Letisha Babb’s murder conviction.

Babb, 34, was convicted of murder in the robbery and death of John Castro.

In 2011, a federal district court ruled that Babb must be retried or released because of erroneous jury instructions at her trial. But the federal appeals court ruled she wasn’t entitled to any relief because of the overwhelming evidence of her guilt.

She remains at the McClure Women’s Correctional Center in North Las Vegas.