Thursday, June 16, 2022 - J. Silver, J. Cadish, J. Pickering

In Re: Search of Residence and Property
Docket Number: 81509
Las Vegas - 3:00 pm - J. Silver, J. Cadish, J. Pickering

This is an appeal from a district court order resolving a motion, for the return of seized property.  Appellant James Kosta is the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation for open murder and drug trafficking.  Police obtained a search warrant to seize some of Kosta’s property and requested that the court seal the supporting affidavit. Kosta thereafter filed a motion for the return of his property, and requested that the district court unseal the affidavit supporting the warrant.  Alternatively, Kosta requested that the court impose a search warrant protocol to prevent the detectives from discovering evidence outside of the scope of the warrant.  The district court denied Kosta’s motion, and Kosta appeals

ISSUES:

A threshold issue on appeal is whether this court has jurisdiction and additional issues are whether the district court abused its discretion by denying (1) the motion to return property, (2) the motion to unseal the underlying affidavit, or (3) the alternative motion for an order imposing a search protocol.

Disclaimer:

This synopsis is intended to provide only general information about this case before the Nevada Supreme Court.  It is not intended to be all-inclusive or reflect all positions of the parties.  To access the documents that have been filed in this matter, type the docket number into the court’s case search page: https://caseinfo.nvsupremecourt.us/public/caseSearch.do