1 conviction upheld, 1 overturned over jury instructions

By Cy Ryan

Monday, April 18, 2016 | 7:45 p.m.

CARSON CITY — In a 2-1 decision, a three-judge panel of the Nevada Supreme Court rejected the petition of Barbara A. Pinkston, convicted in the fatal shooting of her ex-boyfriend during a visit with the couple’s child in Henderson.

Pinkston argued the premeditation instruction to the jury was improper and she was entitled to a new trial.

Pinkston, who is serving two consecutive life terms with the possibility of parole, shot Greg Payne in June 1995.

Justice Michael Cherry dissented, saying he agreed with Pinkston on the issue of the premeditated murder instruction.

In another decision released today, the court overturned the first-degree murder conviction of Leonardo Cardoza in Carson City because the jury instruction premeditation was faulty.

Cardoza was sentenced to 29 years to life for hitting and killing Desiree Bragg, 19, with a minivan in her driveway in June 2013.

The court said Cardoza had been drinking the afternoon and evening before the incident, and his blood-alcohol level was still above the legal limit several hours after the incident.

“Further, Cardoza’s inexplicable behavior after he struck the victim — wandering around outside his vehicle, fleeing in his vehicle, crashing into a fence, and stumbling back to the victim’s home — is not emblematic of a willful, deliberate and premeditated murder,” the court’s ruling said.