Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Court rejects appeal of death row inmate who shot NHP trooper

CARSON CITY – The Nevada Supreme Court has rejected the third appeal of death row inmate Michael Sonner, convicted of killing a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper in 1993.

Sonner challenged the constitutionality of the state’s death penalty law.

The court ruled Sonner’s petition for a writ was untimely because it was filed nine years after the court denied his first appeal. It said Sonner failed to prove good cause for his delay and the prejudice he suffered.

Sonner, now 43, fatally shot patrol trooper Carlos Borland, who stopped his car after Bonner had stolen $22 worth of gasoline at a gas station in Pershing County in November 1993.

Among his claims, Sonner said Nevada’s death penalty law violates the Nevada and U.S. constitutions because it is imposed at a disproportionate rate against minorities and indigents. He said 68 percent of those on death row are in these categories.

He also claimed the law is unconstitutional because there were no statewide regulations for charging and prosecuting death penalty cases.

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