Warning: This story offers with allegations of sexual assault.
U.S. federal prosecutors in Nevada have quietly dismissed a long-dormant intercourse abuse case in opposition to Nathan Chasing Horse, although the previous Dances with Wolves actor nonetheless faces legal costs elsewhere.
The U.S. federal case was tossed Oct. 1, simply as state prosecutors have been finalizing the dismissal of their very own indictment in opposition to Chasing Horse underneath an order from the Nevada Supreme Courtroom.
The back-to-back dismissals are a shocking growth for a authorized saga that started with Las Vegas police arresting Chasing Horse and raiding his house in January 2023, resulting in the state’s 18-count indictment in Clark County District Courtroom.
His arrest was shortly adopted by extra legal costs in 4 different jurisdictions within the U.S. and Canada. That features the now-dismissed federal case accusing him of sexually exploiting minors and possessing little one sexual abuse materials, costs that stemmed from the identical allegations that led to his arrest.
Expenses in Canada, Montana and Las Vegas
Chasing Horse nonetheless faces legal costs in Canada, on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana, and in Las Vegas.
Greatest recognized for portraying the character Smiles A Lot within the 1990 movie Dances with Wolves, Chasing Horse was born on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, which is house to the Sicangu Sioux, one of many seven tribes of the Lakota nation.
Federal prosecutors took no motion of their case in opposition to Chasing Horse after submitting the fees in February 2023, courtroom data present. They moved to dismiss the case on Sept. 27 — a day after the Nevada excessive courtroom ordered the dismissal of Chasing Horse’s indictment in state courtroom — however didn’t element in courtroom filings why they needed to dismiss the case.
Each the state and federal circumstances have been dismissed with out prejudice, that means prosecutors can refile the fees.
Federal prosecutor Steven Rose did not instantly reply to an e mail Monday asking if the U.S. authorities intends to take action. Clark County District Legal professional Steve Wolfson has stated his workplace will refile the fees — which included sexual assault of a minor, kidnapping and little one abuse — in state courtroom.
State prosecutors file new case
State prosecutors on Friday filed a brand new case in Las Vegas in opposition to Chasing Horse that accuses him of filming himself having intercourse with considered one of his accusers when she was youthful than 14.
He’s being held within the custody of Las Vegas police on $200,000 US bail.
In at the very least one video, the lady was “totally handed out,” prosecutor William Rowles stated Monday in courtroom.
Rowles stated the footage, taken in 2010 or 2011, have been discovered on cellphones in a locked secure contained in the North Las Vegas house that Chasing Horse is alleged to have shared with 5 wives, together with the lady within the movies.
His defence lawyer, Kristy Holston, declined to touch upon the brand new case or the dismissal of the federal costs. Rowles additionally stated he had no remark.
The Nevada Supreme Courtroom in late September sided with Chasing Horse, after his lawyer efficiently argued {that a} definition of grooming — offered to the grand jury with out skilled testimony — had tainted the state’s case, and that prosecutors ought to have shared with the grand jury inconsistent statements made by one of many victims.
Chasing Horse’s case had been at a standstill for greater than a yr whereas he challenged it.
