The jury is currently being picked for Wayne Burgarello’s murder trial. Mr. Burgarello, 74, is being tried for the shooting death of two people who had trespassed in a vacant property owned by Mr. Burgarello. Nevada law allows individuals to use deadly force with firearms in their homes when they are subjected to a legitimate threat. The bill also cautions homeowners against shooting first and not being aggressors. Even though Mr. Burgarello believed he was in danger, police and district attorneys handled the case as one of capital murder. A conviction on a capital murder charge could lead to a Reno wrongful death suit.
The home invasion linked shootings happened just before valentine’s day last year on February 14th, 2014. Neighbors alerted Mr. Burgarello that people were in his vacant duplex. Then, Mr Burgarello went to the duplex with two loaded handguns to investigate. Upon entering, Mr. Burgarello saw another man in the unit, Cody Devine, 34. Mr. Burgarello shot Mr. Devine when he thought he saw a gun or other weapon in Mr. Devine’s hand. A police investigation revealed that Mr. Devine was not carrying any weapon of any kind and that he had been shot many times. Another person in the vacant duplex at the time, Janai Wilson, 29, was also shot repeatedly by Mr. Burgarello. Ms. Wilson, however, survived the attack and is expected to testify against Mr. Burgarello in his trial.
A number of bills in the Nevada assembly were introduced that were intended to strengthen the laws associated with the castle doctrine in Nevada. The castle doctrine is a legal concept purported by guns rights activists. The doctrine, in its purest form, enables homeowners to use nearly any means necessary to deal with trespassers. It enables those involved in such incidents to use justifiable homicide defenses in their court cases. The doctrine also provides some immunity against Nevada wrongful death lawsuits. The bills that were introduced to increase castle doctrine protections in 2015 and SB 175, SB 171 and AB 139. AB 139 was considered to be an omnibus gun rights bill which also worked to include other gun rights for silver staters.
NV-attorney is branch in Northern Nevada for the family-owned personal injury law firm, Benson and Bingham. Founded by cousins Benjamin Bingham and Joseph Benson, our firm has significant experience with wrongful death in Clark County, Las Vegas pedestrian accidents and even casino accidents that occur outside of the state of Nevada when those companies have their corporate headquarters in the Silver State.