LAS VEGAS (AP) 鈥� The Nevada Supreme Court has ordered the dismissal of 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 sa国际传媒.
Proceedings in the have been at a standstill for more than a year while the former 鈥淒ances with Wolves鈥� actor challenged it. The full seven-member court鈥檚 decision, issued Thursday, reverses earlier rulings by a three-member panel of the high court and a state judge.
Kristy Holston, the chief deputy public defender representing Chasing Horse, had argued that a definition of grooming presented to the grand jury without expert testimony tainted the state鈥檚 case. Holston said prosecutors also failed to provide the grand jury with evidence that could have cast a doubt on the allegations against Chasing Horse, including what she described as inconsistent statements made by one of the victims.
The high court agreed.
鈥淭he 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,鈥� the court said in its scathing order.
The ruling directs the judge overseeing the case in Clark County District Court to dismiss the indictment without prejudice, meaning charges against Chasing Horse can be refiled. But the order for dismissal won鈥檛 take effect immediately, as prosecutors also have the option to ask the high court to reconsider within 25 days.
鈥淭he allegations against Chasing Horse are indisputably serious, and we express no opinion about Chasing Horse鈥檚 guilt or innocence,鈥� the order says.
Holston declined to comment. District Attorney Steve Wolfson, in a statement Thursday, described the court's decision as 鈥渙nly a minor setback.鈥�
鈥淢y office is committed to resurrecting the charges in this case,鈥� Wolfson said, 鈥渁nd we will not rest until we obtain justice on behalf of the victims in this matter.鈥�
Chasing Horse is charged with sexual assault of a minor, kidnapping and child abuse. He has pleaded not guilty.
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. He is unlikely to be released from custody, even after the high court's decision, because he faces charges in at least four , including U.S. District Court in Nevada and on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana.
Chasing Horse is best known for portraying Smiles A Lot in the 1990 film 鈥淒ances with Wolves.鈥� But in the decades since starring in the Oscar-winning movie, authorities said, he built a reputation as a self-proclaimed medicine man among tribes and traveled around North America to perform healing ceremonies.
He is accused of using that position to gain access to vulnerable girls and women starting in the early 2000s, and taking underage wives. Authorities have said one of the wives was offered to Chasing Horse as a 鈥済ift鈥� when she was 15, while another 鈥渂ecame a wife鈥� after turning 16.
Chasing Horse also is accused of recording sexual assaults and arranging sex with the victims for other men who allegedly paid him.
His legal issues have been unfolding at the same time lawmakers and prosecutors around the U.S. are into cases involving Native women, including human trafficking and murders. Chasing Horse was born on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, which is home to the Sicangu Sioux, one of the seven tribes of the Lakota nation.
Rio Yamat, The Associated Press
