Wolfson: I didn’t charge cop because I didn’t think I could get a conviction

Friday, March 2, 2012 | 8:22 a.m.

Clark County District attorney Steve Wolfson said Thursday that he was “offended” and “shocked” by the “misconduct” on that videotape of police beating a Henderson motorist, but he decided he likely could not get a conviction.

Wolfson’s explanation, on “Face to Face,” came after he had originally said it was “not in the community’s interest” to pursue the charges, especially because the case was more than a year old. Wolfson acknowledged on the program that he had done “a poor job” of explaining his reasoning to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Wolfson, the appointee who took office less than two weeks ago, said there is “a big leap from police misconduct which should be disciplined internally, to going to court. “Ethically, as district attorney of this county, I have to feel comfortable I can prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law,” Wolfson said, adding that a “vast majority” of the attorneys in his office believed such a case could not be proven, despite the existence of the videotape.

Wolfson said a one-year statute of limitations had expired on a misdemeanor battery charged. But when I suggested many would say there appears to be a felony on that tape, he replied, “And you’re right.” He added that cases of oppression under the color of office” have been brought, but unsuccessfully (he cited the infamous Charles Bush case from two decades ago when officers burst into a hotel room and put a man in a chokehold – he later died).

Despite the existence of that videotape, Wolfson said, he would have had to prove “criminal intent,” which he and his deputies believed they could not do.

Wolfson, who promised to restore confidence after a series of police shootings and allegations of coziness between the DA and Metro, said, “I recognize that some of my decisions are not going to be popular. But this is not a popularity contest.”

At one point I asked Wolfson whether he believed there was a crime on that videotape and he hesitated a few moments before saying, “I think that arguably a prosecutor could file a criminal charge but going into a court of law and proving it beyond a reasonable doubt is a whole different analysis.”

Wolfson said he was not lobbied by the police union or its new counsel, ex-DA David Roger.

Wolfson said “evidence is coming” of his commitment to set a different standard and that he met this week with Sheriff Doug Gillespie about delivering 16 or 17 officer-involved shooting cases. Wolfson said he will analyze each case and decide whether to prosecute, providing a written report on why he made his decision.

The new district attorney openly acknowledged there had been some “bad conduct” by police, mentioning the controversial shootings by police of Erik Scott, Trevon Cole and Stanley Gibson.

“I think the community has a right to question the confidence” in law enforcement, he said.

You can see the entire interview here