High court tosses out Perez-Marquez murder conviction

Friday, Sept. 9, 2005 | 9:55 a.m.

SUN CAPITAL BUREAU

CARSON CITY -- The Nevada Supreme Court on Thursday overturned the first-degree murder conviction of Oscar Perez-Marquez, sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for setting another man on fire in a dispute over drugs in Pahrump.

The court said District Judge John P. Davis failed to give the jury an instruction sought by the defense and that entitled Perez to a new trial.

The prosecution's sole eyewitness to the crime was Richard Cuellar, who testified that Perez and three associates in Mexico attacked Alfredo "Enrique" Reina at a party in Pahrump in June 2002. Cuellar said Reina was taken to a remote desert location where Perez poured gasoline on the victim who was then set on fire.

Cuellar admitted he was present at the killing, helped clean up the scene after the attack and admitted using money taken from Reina to buy beer for the group. He denied any direct participation in the fatal assault.

The defense maintained Cuellar killed Reina.

Attorneys for Perez sought a jury instruction that there could not be a conviction based solely on the testimony of an accomplice. There had to be other evidence to back up Cuellar's.

The court said "Cuellar testified in such a way as to allow a clear inference that he was an accomplice to Reina's murder."

The court said it has "long recognized not only that uncorroborated testimony of an accomplice has doubtful worth, but that his incrimination of another is not corroborated simply because he accurately describes the crime or the circumstances thereof."