Opinion
No. 75761
05-08-2018
JOSHUA CHAVIRA, Petitioner, v. THE EIGHTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, IN AND FOR THE COUNTY OF CLARK; AND THE HONORABLE CAROLYN ELLSWORTH, DISTRICT JUDGE, Respondents, and THE STATE OF NEVADA, Real Party in Interest.
ORDER DENYING PETITION
This original petition for a writ of mandamus seeks an order directing the district court to grant Joshua Chavira's motion to recuse the Clark County District Attorney's Office.
A writ of mandamus is available to compel the performance of an act which the law requires as a duty resulting from an office, trust, or station, NRS 34.160, or to control a manifest abuse or arbitrary or capricious exercise of discretion, Round Hill Gen. Improvement Dist. v. Newman, 97 Nev. 601, 603-04, 637 P.2d 534, 536 (1981). "[M]andamus is the appropriate vehicle for challenging attorney disqualification rulings." State v. Eighth Jud. Dist. Ct. (Zogheib), 130 Nev. 158, 161, 321 P.3d 882, 884 (2014). "But the disqualification of a prosecutor's office rests with the sound discretion of the district court" and mandamus "will not serve to control the proper exercise of that discretion or to substitute the judgment of this court for that of the lower tribunal." Id. (alteration, internal quotation marks, and citation omitted). We conclude the district court judge did not improperly exercise her discretion when denying Chavira's motion to disqualify the Clark County District Attorney's Office. See id. At 164-65, 321 P.3d at 886. Accordingly, we
In light of this order we also deny Chavira's emergency motion for a stay. --------
/s/_________, C.J.
Silver
/s/_________, J.
Tao
/s/_________, J.
Gibbons cc: Hon. Carolyn Ellsworth, District Judge
Clark County Public Defender
Attorney General/Carson City
Clark County District Attorney
Eighth District Court Clerk