Thursday, Dec. 23, 2004 | 11:09 a.m.
CARSON CITY -- A Las Vegas man convicted of first-degree murder in 1996 in the shaking death of his 10-month old daughter is going to get a new trial.
The Nevada Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that an improper instruction was given to the jury in the trial of James F. Meegan II, who is serving a life term for the 1990 death of his daughter, Francine.
The child had lost consciousness after being shaken, and Meegan and his wife, Lillian, were unable to revive her. They put Francine's body in a suitcase and drove to Arizona, where Meegan tossed gasoline on the body, burned it and buried it. The remains were not discovered for five years.
The instruction directed the jury to presume malice if they found the killing occurred by means of child abuse. The court said malice, under the law, was an essential element of first-degree murder and the jury should not have been instructed that malice was to be presumed.
The Supreme Court in 2002 ordered the district court to hold an evidentiary hearing on Meegan's claim that his lawyers were ineffective for failing to challenge the instruction that the jury was to presume malice in the murder.
District Judge Sally Loehrer presided over the hearing and ruled that Meegan was not prejudiced by his lawyer's failure to object to the erroneous instruction because it was a harmless error.
The Supreme Court said "the district court erred in finding that Meegan was not prejudiced by his counsel's deficient performance."
Meegan contends that he did not have malice aforethought to kill the child, and the medical testimony, according to the court, did not eliminate the possibility that the victim died by accidental means.
"Also, Meegan's claims that he loved the victim and never ... abused or killed her were also supported by sufficient witness testimony from Meegan's family members and friends," the court said.
The court said the district attorney's office conceded at trial there was no evidence that Meegan intended to kill or acted with premeditation. But the prosecution in closing arguments emphasized that malice was conclusively proven if it established that Meegan abused the victim, resulting in her death.
Because Meegan received ineffective assistance of his attorneys, the court said, he is entitled to a new trial.
Meegan was originally sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole, but Loehrer resentenced Meegan to allow for parole, explaining the original sentence was based on a material mistaken assumption of law.
His wife, Lillian, received an 18-year prison term in 1996 after she pleaded guilty to child abuse and neglect with substantial bodily harm as the result of the death of her daughter.
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