Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Court overturns Las Vegas man’s child abuse conviction

CARSON CITY – The Nevada Supreme Court has ruled there wasn't enough evidence to convict Marc P. Young of one count of child abuse for allegedly kicking a 12-year-old boy in the groin in Las Vegas.

The court said “no rational juror could have found the elements essential to proving child abuse and neglect” and overturned the conviction of Young, who had been placed on two years of probation.

Young was accused of kicking Ryan Reyes, the son of his girlfriend, in the groin in November 2010 but the boy didn't need medical attention. The boy testified at trial that Young didn't assault him.

But Young was found guilty after a two-day trial.

The court said there was no evidence the boy “sustained permanent or temporary disfigurement, impairment of any bodily function or organ or mental injury.”

In another ruling, the court upheld the murder conviction of Jonathan Vazquez, who at the age of 17 fatally shot one man and wounded another at a Las Vegas house party in 2007.

The court said there was "substantial evidence" to convict Vazquez in the shooting of Juanito Granados and the wounding of Marc Velasquez.

Vazquez said he was drunk at the time, had smoked marijuana and had taken ecstasy. He also said the confession he made to police wasn't voluntary.

The court said “the totality of the circumstances indicates that Vazquez’s confession was voluntary,” and District Judge Michael Villani did not err in admitting it at the three-day trial.

Vazquez was sentenced to consecutive 20-50 year terms in prison.

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