State high court throws out LV man’s murder conviction

CARSON CITY -- The Nevada Supreme Court on Thursday threw out a murder conviction against a Las Vegas man who in 2002 killed his boss because he thought he was a witch.

Justices ruled in a 5-0 decision that Reyes Olivares was entitled to another competency hearing and a new trial because then-District Judge Joseph Bonaventure did not hold a hearing on his competency when requested by Olivares' lawyer.

Olivares, 40, was convicted in 2005 of first-degree murder in the death of his construction foreman, Vaughn Russell at a Las Vegas construction site. He carried a handgun to the site because he believed Russell, 43, had made "black magic attacks" on him. He believed Russell's flatulence was a sorcerer's spell.

After his arrest Olivares was sent to Lakes Crossing, the state hospital for criminal offenders in Sparks, for evaluation. Doctors there found him competent to stand trial.

But before his trial, Olivares began making strange comments to lawyers and the judge when he was offered a plea bargain that could have led to him serving only 10 years on a second-degree murder charge.

He refused to the plea bargain and received a 20- to 50-year sentence when he was convicted by a jury.

In the Supreme Court's decision, justices said Olivares had spent more than 11/2 years at Lakes Crossing off and on and at least one doctor found him incompetent to stand trial.

Even doctors who found him competent said he was delusional, believing his lawyers were colluding with prosecutors and not helping him.

Justices said Bonaventure should have listened to Olivares' lawyer and held an additional competency hearing.

"Here we conclude that it was an abuse of discretion for the district court to decline to hold a hearing to consider the doubts raised by counsel," the court found.