LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — As Las Vegas Metro Police continue investigating a suspected home invasion case that left a suspect dead early Thursday morning, News 3 talked to local attorney Joseph Gersten of The Gersten Law Firm, who specializes in Criminal defense and Nevada Gun law about the rights homeowners have when it comes to protecting oneself while at home.

Gersten says cases where a victim opens fire against a suspected intruder vary, but in the incident that left an adult male dead, early Thursday morning, Gersten says it could be seen as self-defense.

“You are presumed essentially innocent if you’re in your own home and somebody comes in to commit a crime,” Gersten said.

According to Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department investigators around 7:30 Thursday morning, the residents at a home along Placer Drive near Torrey Pines and Harmon Avenue called 9-1-1 on a suspect who had just broken the glass to their front door and was attempting to break into their home.

“The male was acting extremely irrationally and was not listening to what they were telling him. As they continued to tell him to leave the property at which time he moved towards the doorway where they were at, at where the homeowner felt the need to shoot the male,” said LVMPD Homicide Lieutenant Jason Johansson.

“As officers were dispatched towards this location, our dispatcher heard a shot being fired over the 9-1-1 call and the people who called 9-1-1 relayed that they had just shot the male who tried to break into their house,” Lt. Johansson added.

Once officers arrived at the scene they located the suspect, who is believed to be around 30-40 years old, suffering from a gunshot wound.

“Medical arrived shortly after and transported him to University Medical Center where unfortunately he was pronounced deceased,” said Lt. Johansson.

Gersten, says when it comes to ‘stand your ground laws’ in the state, Nevada has three main components ensuring homeowners are protected.

“You’re allowed to stand your ground as long as you’re not the original aggressor. Meaning you didn’t bring the fight to wherever it is, you have a right to be present where the deadly force is used. So you’re not a trespasser or an unwelcome guest, something like that; and lastly you’re not engaged in legal conduct yourself,” Gersten added.

Essentially, Gersten says Nevada law gives victims the presumption of a justifiable homicide if the danger is imminent at the time the incident occurs.

“To avoid any issue all you need to do is close your door right? Close your door and call the police. So, again if the danger comes to you, you’re doing good. If the danger is something that you go to; not so good. That is where the laws will sort of turn on you.” Said Gersten.

LVMPD says no arrests were made in the case. However, police say once the investigation is complete, then it will be up to the Clark County’s District Attorney to determine whether charges will be filed.

The Nevada Supreme Court has ordered the dismissal of a sprawling sex abuse indictment against Nathan Chasing Horse, while leaving open the possibility of charges being refiled in a case that sent shockwaves throughout Indian Country and led to more criminal charges in the U.S. and Canada.

The full seven-member court’s decision, issued Thursday, reverses earlier rulings upholding the charges by a three-member panel of the high court and a state judge. Proceedings in the 18-count criminal case have been at a standstill for more than a year while the former “Dances with Wolves” actor challenged it.

Kristy Holston, the deputy public defender representing Chasing Horse, had argued that some evidence presented to the grand jury, including an improper definition of grooming that was presented without expert testimony, had tainted the state’s case. Holston said prosecutors also failed to provide the grand jury with exculpatory evidence, including inconsistent statements made by one of the victims.

The high court agreed.

“The combination of these two clear errors undermines our confidence in the grand jury proceedings and created intolerable damage to the independent function of the grand jury process,” the court said in its scathing order.

Holston declined to comment further. Prosecutor Stacy Kollins did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

The ruling directs the judge overseeing the case in Clark County District Court to dismiss the indictment without prejudice, meaning the charges can be refiled.

“The allegations against Chasing Horse are indisputably serious, and we express no opinion about Chasing Horse’s guilt or innocence,” the order says.

Chasing Horse’s lawyer had also had argued that the case should be dismissed because, the former actor said, the sexual encounters were consensual. One of his accusers was younger than 16, the age of consent in Nevada, when the alleged abuse began, authorities said.

The 48-year-old has been in custody since his arrest last January near the North Las Vegas home he is said to have shared with five wives. Inside the home, police found firearms, 41 pounds of marijuana and psilocybin mushrooms, and a memory card with videos of sexual assaults, CBS News previously reported. Police said that at least two of the women were underage when he married them: One was 15, police said, and another was 16. 

Chasing Horse is best known for portraying Smiles A Lot in the 1990 film “Dances with Wolves.” But in the decades since starring in the Oscar-winning movie, authorities said, he built a reputation as self-proclaimed medicine man among tribes and traveled around North America to perform healing ceremonies. An arrest warrant stated that he is believed to be the leader of a cult called “The Circle,” whose followers believe he can communicate with higher powers, CBS News previously reported.  

He is accused of using that position to gain access to vulnerable girls and women starting in the early 2000s. 

He also faces criminal sexual abuse charges in at least four other jurisdictions, including U.S. District Court in Nevada and on the Fort Perk Indian Reservation in Montana.
Tribal leaders voted to ban him from the Montana reservation in 2015, citing alleged trafficking and accusations of drug dealing, spiritual abuse and intimidation of tribal members. 

Las Vegas police arrested Chasing Horse in January 2023. The arrest helped law enforcement agencies in two countries corroborate long-standing allegations against the former actor. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported that police in southern Alberta have been investigating his possible connection to past sexual assaults. 

A Bay Area political organizer hopes to raise hundreds of thousands to send more than 400 people to Nevada to knock on doors and rally supporters for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

Manny Yekutiel said that with 40 days left until election day, he hopes to garner enough support for Harris and vice presidential nominee Tim Waltz.

“Donald Trump could be our next president. He could win this election, and I don’t want to wake up on November 6 and think, what could I have done,” Yekutiel said. ‘I am firing on all cylinders.”

He added that in order to do so, he is raising $340,000 to send volunteers starting October 11.

In the four weekends leading up to November 5, Yekutiel will send close to 100 volunteers every weekend.

‘We have to do something. We have forty days until this election is over, and this is something very concrete that we can do,” he said.

Key swing states, like Nevada, have been determined by razor-thin margins in recent presidential elections, so this could all depend on who has the better ground operations.

According to an opinion issued by the Federal Elections Commission earlier this year, candidates and outside groups are allowed to work closely, though not fully coordinated, on voter turnout.

It’s something local Republicans admit the Democratic party has been more successful at.

“I think on the national level, I’m concerned about that advantage. On the other hand, I think President Trump is doing a pretty good job, and I think he’s going to pull it out in the end,” said John Dennis, the San Francisco GOP chair.

Dennis said the SF GOP is focused on local races, citing a shift in his more than 15 years with the county Republican party.

“In my time, we have more candidates on the ballot in San Francisco county for offices than I’ve ever seen,” he said.

Neild Park-McClintick of Silicon Valley Rising said the issue is not necessarily who to vote for but getting more people to vote.

“We have to bring more voters from our diverse communities to make sure that who’s in office, and the issues that are selected by voters too. The propositions that pass match what our community looks like,” Park-McClintick said.