Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Court says man didn’t get fair trial in molestation case

Updated Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2015 | 2:58 p.m.

CARSON CITY — A Las Vegas man, in prison since 2003 for molesting a 13-year old boy, didn’t get a fair trial, a federal appeals court has ruled.

The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today said the defense attorney was “constitutionally ineffective” in the case of Willie Sampson, who is serving multiple life terms.

The court, in a 2-1 decision, granted a conditional writ of habeas corpus, sending the case back to U.S. District Court in Nevada for further consideration.

Late in the trial, the defense tried to call a psychiatrist to testify, but the doctor was not listed as a defense witness at the outset of the trial and was not allowed to testify, according to court records.

The majority of the court said there was “a reasonable probability that the jury would have acquitted” had it heard the testimony.

Sampson complained that the child had an oppositional defiant disorder that could affect the truthfulness of the child’s trial testimony, according to court records.

The appeals court said testimony at the trial about the disorder was unclear and that the doctor, who examined the child, could have cleared it up.

The Nevada Supreme Court previously reviewed the case and determined there was enough evidence to convict Sampson.

CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correct the defendant's name. | (October 7, 2015)

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