174.515 - Postponement: When and how ordered; court may require depositions of and undertakings by witnesses; court may consider adverse effect upon child who is victim or witness.
174.515 Postponement: When and how ordered; court may require depositions of and undertakings by witnesses; court may consider adverse effect upon child who is victim or witness.
1. When an action is called for trial, or at any time previous thereto, the court may, upon sufficient cause shown by either party by affidavit, direct the trial to be postponed to another day. In all cases where a continuance is granted upon the application of either party the court may require, as a condition of granting such continuance, that the party applying therefor consent to taking, forthwith, or at any time to be fixed by the court, of the deposition of any witness summoned by the opposite party whose deposition has not previously been taken.
2. The court also may require all witnesses to enter into undertakings in such sum as the court may order, with or without sureties, to appear and testify on the day to which the case may be continued, but any witness who is unable to procure sureties for the witness’s attendance may be discharged on the witness’s own recognizance, upon giving a deposition in the manner prescribed in NRS 174.175 and 174.205.
3. If the trial involves acts committed against a child less than 16 years of age or involving acts witnessed by a child less than 16 years of age, the court may consider any adverse effect a continuance or other postponement might have upon the mental or emotional health or well-being of the child. The court may deny a continuance or other postponement if the delay will adversely affect the mental or emotional health or well-being of the child.
(Added to NRS by 1967, 1424; A 1989, 588; 1995, 400)
NRS 174.519 Request for preference in setting date for trial where child is victim or witness; court may consider effect on child of delay in commencement of trial. If the trial involves acts committed against a child less than 16 years of age or involving acts witnessed by a child less than 16 years of age, the prosecuting attorney shall request the court, in its discretion, to give preference in setting a date for the trial of the defendant. In making a ruling, the court may consider the effect a delay in the commencement of the trial might have on the mental or emotional health or well-being of the child.
(Added to NRS by 1995, 400; A 1997, 511)