Extortion conviction overturned by court

Friday, Sept. 16, 2005 | 9:14 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The Nevada Supreme Court on Thursday overturned the extortion conviction of a man who claimed he was the half-brother of Strip hotel owner Steve Wynn and was entitled to millions of dollars.

The court, however, upheld Donald E. Phillips' convictions of aggravated stalking and preventing or dissuading a witness from testifying.

The court remanded the extortion case back to District Court in Las Vegas. Phillips, now 50, is serving his sentence at the Ely State Prison.

Phillips had sent letters and left voice mail messages for Wynn, both at his home and office in Las Vegas, claiming they had a common father who killed Wynn's mother and impregnated another woman.

Phillips claims the father left an inheritance to both Wynn and Phillips and he wanted his share. He also asked Wynn to send him various sums of money ranging up to $50,000.

The letters and calls came in 2000 and 2001. When the demands were ignored, Phillips threatened to kill or injure Wynn if he did not pay out the money.

Wynn testified he had never met Phillips, was not related to him and denied his allegations. The court said a Las Vegas police detective and an FBI agent testified that they could not find anything to back up the allegations.

Phillips also alleged Wynn had committed various violent crimes.

At trial, he said he did not intend to threaten Wynn, only to get what was allegedly rightfully his from the estate.

The court overturned the conviction because District Judge John McGroarty failed to properly instruct the jury on the elements of the crime of extortion. The elements include publishing libel information, exposing a person to disgrace or exposing any secret. The court said, "Claiming to be an individual's half-brother is not an accusation of a crime or an injury to a person or property.

"Nor does it expose or impute to a person any deformity. To constitute a factual basis for extortion such a claim must therefore involve libel, disgrace or a secret." The decision, written by Chief Justice Nancy Becker, said McGroarty did not instruct the jury on the elements of libel, disgrace or secret.

"Because the general verdict form does not specify which theory of extortion was used to convict Phillips, we reverse the extortion convictions," the court said.

The court rejected arguments that aggravated stalking and dissuading a witness convictions should be overturned because of the introduction of prior bad acts at the trial. The court said it was harmless error in light of the overwhelming evidence admitted at trial.

Justice Bob Rose dissented, saying he did not believe the bad acts testimony "was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt."

The two prior acts involved an attempted bank robbery and possession of a concealed weapon.