Change of lawyers delays Meegan trial

Bill Gang

Wednesday, June 26, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

James Meegan's jailhouse talk has resulted in a new attorney being appointed for the alleged baby killer, and that plus delays in DNA testing have postponed his trial date.

The problem for Meegan is that many of the Clark County Detention Center prisoners he is purported to have blabbed to about the death five years ago of his 11-month-old son now want to testify against him.

Some want deals in their own cases in exchange for their testimony while others are willing to take the witness stand as prosecution witnesses without benefit.

But 13 of the witnesses are clients of the Clark County public defender's office, which also represents Meegan.

The obvious conflict of interest and ethical restrictions in having one deputy public defender cross examine -- or even interview -- another of the office's clients resulted Tuesday in a private attorney being appointed for Meegan.

Meegan, who had criticized his public defenders initially, now was trying to hold onto them.

But Deputy Public Defender David Wall complained that even though he has a list of jail inmates lining up to testify against Meegan, "We can't even tell him who the snitches are in his own house, because they are our clients."

District Judge Sally Loehrer called it "an impossible situation" and said the only solution was a new lawyer for the 39-year-old defendant.

"I can't fix it, I've tried," she explained, referring to her attempts to have Meegan and other public defender clients waive any conflicts and keep Wall and Deputy Public Defender Phil Kohn on the case.

The waiver scheme, however, became unwieldy and there was always the potential that prosecutors would call other jailhouse snitches who hadn't waived the conflicts as last-minute witnesses.

That would have opened the door for appeals to the Nevada Supreme Court.

Loehrer appointed veteran defense attorney David Schieck to the murder case that could result in the death penalty if Meegan is convicted. Schieck will be allowed to name a second attorney to help with the case.

"I think you will find your new attorney also highly qualified and will give you the same sense of security," she told the defendant, who has become known for his courtroom outbursts.

Meegan, however, complained that the prosecutor was just trying to delay the trial.

Although Meegan has demanded his right to a speedy trial, Loehrer on Tuesday delayed the trial, that had been scheduled for July 8, until Aug. 5 at the request of prosecutors.

The delay will give Schieck a chance to come up to speed on the case and provide time for DNA tests to be completed.

"The scientific evidence may be good for the state or good for the defendant," the judge said.

Some DNA testing already had been done on blood that had been preserved after the baby's burned body was found in a central Arizona gully by some cowboys in 1990.

But the results were inconclusive because the blood sample used had degraded.

Deputy District Attorney John Lukens said new tests are in progress with another sample and "it is anticipated that results will be obtained."

He said he expects a report from the Arizona testing laboratory by July 26.

The results, Lukens added, should preclude the need to exhume the tot's body to determine whether it is Francine Meegan, although Schieck could still request such an exhumation if he believes it might aid the defense.

While Meegan lost his attorneys and his trial date Tuesday, he won back some of his telephone privileges at the jail.

Loehrer, who had suspended his phone access after Lukens complained that he was trying to influence witnesses, agreed to let Meegan call his wife, Lillian, and their children.

Lillian Meegan has pleaded guilty to felony child neglect charges for her role in the baby's death and is expected to be a key witness in the trial of her husband.

Her sentencing is scheduled for July 9.

Shortly after the baby was born, it was adopted out to a California couple and then "repossessed" several months later by the Meegans when the couple wouldn't shell out more than the $30,000 they already had paid.

Few, including most of the Meegans' relatives, knew the baby even existed, but a former in-law finally revealed the disappearance early this year.

When confronted, Lillian Meegan said the baby had been kidnapped from her car in a casino parking lot where she had left it while cashing a check. She said she never reported it to police because the family didn't want the police scrutiny.

Both parents were arrested and charged with murder, but Lillian Meegan's charges were reduced after she gave a statement to police naming her husband as the one responsible for the death.

Court documents have indicated that James Meegan also told a friend that he shook the infant to death when she wouldn't stop crying.

Meegan