Nevada Revised Statutes

Nev. Rev. Stat. § 175.191 (2026)

Presumption of innocence: Acquittal in case of reasonable doubt

✓ current as of July 2026
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NRS 175.191  Presumption of innocence: Acquittal in case of reasonable doubt.  A defendant in a criminal action is presumed to be innocent until the contrary is proved; and in case of a reasonable doubt whether the defendant’s guilt is satisfactorily shown, the defendant is entitled to be acquitted.

      (Added to NRS by 1967, 1427)

     

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 15 cases (3 in the last 5 years), 1968–2025 · leading case: Blake v. State, 121 P.3d 567 (Nev. 2005).
Blake v. State, 121 P.3d 567 (Nev. 2005). · cites it 2× “The challenged instruction tracked the language of NRS 175.191 and provided in part: "The Defendant is presumed innocent until the contrary is proved.”
Watters v. State, 313 P.3d 243 (Nev. 2013). “We therefore conclude *892 that it was error, and an abuse of discretion, for the district court to allow the prosecutor’s booking-photo slide sequence in opening statement.”
Wesley v. State, 916 P.2d 793 (Nev. 1996). “Therefore, we conclude that the district attorney properly questioned Rancher on redirect examination to rehabilitate Rancher’s credibility and did not imply that Wesley had threatened him. 8. Reasonable doubt instruction Before closing arguments, the district court provided the…”
Azbill v. State, 440 P.2d 1014 (Nev. 1968). · cites it 2× “However, on review by habeas corpus of the sufficiency of the evidence to support an indictment, the function of the district court judge is to determine whether the state has fulfilled its burden on that point. Its burden is only to show that there is "probable cause to believe…”
Sessions v. State, 789 P.2d 1242 (Nev. 1990). “NRS 175.191. The record is devoid of evidence which would indicate that the plants, properly weighed, would have weighed more than 100 pounds.”
Harrison v. State, 608 P.2d 1107 (Nev. 1980). “See NRS 175.191. However, when jury instructions, as a whole, correctly state the law, it will be assumed that the jury was not misled by any isolated portion.”
Soldo-allesio v. Ferguson, 141 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 9 (Nev. 2025). “A conviction, however, is not required before the district court may find that a party has committed domestic violence in a civil matter. Indeed, a criminal conviction requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt and, as previously explained, NRS Chapter 125C does not.”
Starr v. State, 433 P.3d 301 (Nev. 2018). “See NRS 175.191 ; NRS 175.201. Consequently, a defendant has no need for any inference suggesting innocence when his innocence is presumed throughout the trial.”
Starr (brandon) Vs. State, 2018 NV 90 (Nev. 2018). · cites it 2× “See NRS 175.191; NRS 175.201. Consequently, a defendant has no need for any inference suggesting innocence when his innocence is presumed throughout COURT OF APPEALS OF NEVADA (0) 19473 6 the trial.”
Starr v. State (Nev. 2018). · cites it 2× “See NRS 175.191; NRS 175.201. Consequently, a defendant has no need for any inference suggesting innocence when his innocence is presumed throughout COURT OF APPEALS OF NEVADA (0) 19473 6 the trial.”
Duarte-Herrera v. Williams (D. Nev. 2022). · cites it 2× “) Instead, Duarte-Herrera proposed an 2 instruction that mirrored Nevada’s presumption of innocence statute, Nev. Rev. Stat. § 175.191 , 3 which omitted the “material element” language and provided: “A Defendant in a criminal action 4 is presumed to be innocent until the…”
Scott (Christian) v. State (Nev. 2018). “" On appeal, Scott argues that the proffered instruction quoted NRS 175.191 (titled "Presumption of innocence: Acquittal in case of reasonable doubt) and was "a positive statement of law.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.