Supreme Court rejects appeal of man convicted of raping daughter

Thursday, Feb. 26, 1998 | 10:09 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A Las Vegas man, convicted of sexual assault for impregnating his 11-year-old daughter, isn't going to get any relief from his two consecutive prison life terms with the possibility of parole.

The Nevada Supreme Court Thursday rejected the appeal of Rafael I. Arreola, convicted of three counts of sexual assault of a minor under 14 years old. His previous appeals to the Nevada high court and the U.S. Supreme Court also have been denied.

After his arrest, a test revealed his daughter was pregnant. She obtained an abortion and DNA tests ordered by the state confirmed Arreola was the father.

Arreola contended that the blood sample taken when he was arrested should not have been permitted into evidence. He also claimed the blood sample from his daughter and a sample from the aborted fetus should have been excluded from evidence at the trial.

The court rejected his claims and also denied his argument that his lawyer was incompetent in representing him at trial.

In another decision, Jason Ward, a convicted killer from Las Vegas, is going to receive an extra 359 days good time credit to reduce his sentence. But it probably won't mean much.

Ward was sentenced to two consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole on a 1987 conviction of first-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon involving a person who was older than 65.

Ward spent the 359 days in jail before he was convicted.

Ward gained notoriety for his lawsuit to force the state prison to provide a kosher kitchen so he could practice his Jewish religion. The state agreed to allow Ward to buy kosher foods from the prison canteen and permitted him to wear certain types of clothing.