High court orders hearing on convicted killer’s appeal

Friday, Nov. 7, 2003 | 9:02 a.m.

SUN CAPITAL BUREAU

CARSON CITY -- The Nevada Supreme Court Thursday ordered a District Court hearing for convicted killer Anthony L. Bagley to determine whether he had valid reasons for filing his appeal one day past the deadline.

Bagley is serving two consecutive life terms with the possibility of parole for the fatal shooting of Curtis Henry, 28, in Las Vegas in 1998. His petition for a writ of habeas corpus was due by July 10, 2002, and he filed it one day late.

Bagley said the delay was due to circumstances beyond his control: a broken copy machine and a prison-imposed limit on the amount of carbon paper he could buy.

The photocopier at the prison in Ely was broken from late May through July 15, 2002. And the prison limits the amount of carbon paper an inmate can buy at any one time.

The situation kept Bagley from being able to produce the copies that he was required to file with the attorney general and the district attorney, Bagley said.

The court ordered District Judge Joseph Bonaventure to review the record to determine whether the delay was justified. The court said Bonaventure did not consider Bagley's good cause argument when he dismissed the petition initially.

If the delay is found to have been valid, the court must conduct hearings regarding the petition. In it Bagley alleges his lawyer was ineffective at his first trial and during his appeal.