Nevada court upholds conviction in gasoline fire attack case

By The Associated Press

Sunday, Dec. 27, 2015 | 7:15 p.m.

The Nevada Supreme Court has upheld the battery and attempted assault convictions of a man serving six to 15 years in state prison for dousing a man with gasoline and setting him on fire at a Las Vegas convenience store three years ago.

Patrick Newell's defense attorneys weren't available Friday, and it wasn't clear if he'll seek a re-hearing before the full seven-member court of Thursday's ruling by a three-member panel.

Newell, now 64, argued at trial and in his appeal that he was defending himself because the man who was burned, Theodore Bejarano, was committing felony coercion and posed a threat of bodily harm to him.

Defense attorneys told a Clark County District Court jury that Newell feared for his life and used reasonable force to defend himself.

They cast the 35-year-old Bejarano as drunk, belligerent and aggressive when he accosted Newell in October 2012 as he pumped gas at a Circle K store and demanded a ride home.

Prosecutors argued that Newell tried to kill Bejarano, and jeopardized the lives of everyone nearby.

Newell also uses the name Matteo Caprani. Prosecutors told the jury he twice squirted fuel at Bejarano's face and clothes, and security video showed Newell using a lighter to set Bejarano's shirt ablaze.

Authorities said Bejarano suffered second-degree burns on his left side and both arms.

The high court noted that Newell also threatened Bejarano with a pocket knife, and said the amount of force used against an aggressor has to be reasonable and necessary under the circumstances.

"Deadly force cannot be used unless the person ... poses a threat of serious bodily injury," the court said.

The jury acquitted Newell of attempted murder, but convicted him of battery with a deadly weapon and attempted assault with a deadly weapon.