CARSON CITY — The Nevada Supreme Court today rejected the appeal of Lesean T. Collins, convicted in the slaying of a drug dealer whose body was found in the desert in Clark County in 2008.
Collins, who was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, maintains his constitutional rights were violated when he was removed from the courtroom during the questioning of some prospective jurors because he was in jail-issued clothing.
The District Court noted that a defendant who appears shackled and in jail uniform undermines the presumption of innocence.
State Supreme Court Justice Kristina Pickering, who wrote the decision, said Collins was outside the courtroom during administrative and preliminary questioning of the jurors “to which Collins had little to contribute.” After the initial two-hour absence, Pickering said, Collins appeared at the rest of the trial in civilian clothing.
The court upheld the decision of the District Court judge to remove Collins.
Collins was convicted of the murder of Brandi Payton, whose decomposed body was found in a ravine. An autopsy showed she was hit in the head and died of asphyxiation after being locked in the trunk of a car in the summer heat.
The court also rejected arguments by Collins that testimony by a police detective should have been excluded at the trial, that the District Attorney’s Office should have been disqualified from prosecuting the case and that the jury should have received an instruction for voluntary manslaughter.