State Supreme Court rejects two appeals

Friday, June 17, 2005 | 9:57 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Rulings by the Nevada Supreme Court on Thursday included decisions on two Las Vegas murder cases and a case about mineral rights and land surface rights.

The court rejected the appeal of Darwin Robinson, sentenced to life in prison without parole for the murder of his four-year-old son Kyle Robinson in 1993 in Las Vegas. The boy suffered numerous head injuries and fractured ribs.

This was Robinson's third appeal since his August 1994 conviction. Robinson, now 38 years old, claimed there was new evidence in a letter written by his daughter Lisa that demonstrates he is innocent. He maintained the prosecution knew about the letter but never disclosed it to the defense at trial.

The court said Robinson knew about the letter in November 2000 but waited more than two years to file his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. It said Robinson failed to show that the state withheld the evidence.

The court also denied the appeal of Ricardo Macias, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the shooting of 16-year-old Esmeralda Martinez in Las Vegas in 2001. The victim allegedly criticized Macias' gang.