Opinion
No. 9070
September 17, 1976
Appeal from the Eighth Judicial District Court, Clark County; Michael J. Wendell, J.
Morgan D. Harris, Public Defender, and Joseph W. Houston, Deputy, Clark County, for Appellant.
Robert List, Attorney General, Carson City; George E. Holt, District Attorney, and Rimantas A. Rukstele, Deputy, Clark County, for Respondent.
OPINION
Charged with the felonious possession of a controlled substance (heroin), in violation of NRS 453.336 and NRS 453.161, Rufus Duane Stevenson petitioned for habeas corpus. Stevenson argued the charges should be dismissed because his preliminary examination was not scheduled within the fifteen (15)-day period prescribed by NRS 171.196(2). The magistrate had scheduled the preliminary examination nineteen (19) days after Stevenson's initial appearance in the justice court.
The district judge denied habeas and in this appeal the same contention is reurged. We extend the decision in Shelton v. Lamb, 85 Nev. 618, 460 P.2d 156 (1969), and now hold a magistrate may, in the first instance, set a preliminary examination beyond the statutory fifteen (15)-day period, when the record establishes, as it does here, that the reason for so doing is the overcrowded condition of the court's calendar.
Affirmed.