Nevada DA Faces Civil Rights Suit for Wrongful Prosecution

Winnemucca, NVDistrict Attorney Russell Smith and Humboldt county at large are facing a civil rights suit stemming from the arrest of man accused of attempted murder in 2008.

span itemprop="image" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/ImageObject" style="display:block">A Winnemucca-based man, Martin Fonseca, was arrested in 2008 for stabbing his son-in-law in what was later ruled to be self defense. In his lawsuit, Fonseca alleges that the DA's office continued to persecute him despite information that discredited the claims of eye-witness testimony, going so far as to withhold this information from defense counsel.

Fonseca claims that photographs of his shattered door, which would substantiate his claims of self defense, were also withheld.

In 1963, Brady v. Maryland established that purposely concealing evidence from defense attorneys is a violation of the defendant's Fifth Amendment rights to due process.

Fonseca also claims that a violation of his Fourth Amendment rights to reasonable search and seizure resulted in his year-long incarceration.

The suit alleges that the county was careless in its oversight of the 911 dispatchers who responded to the situation, and has failed to take corrective measures towards them since.