Meegan’s sentencing report upsets lawyers

Bill Gang

Wednesday, Oct. 30, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

James Meegan's sentencing for killing his 10-month-old daughter six years ago was postponed once because of an apparent suicide attempt and now is being delayed again.

But this time it is only until Friday.

Meegan's attorneys, Anthony Sgro and David Schieck, complained Tuesday that they haven't had time to meet with Meegan and prepare for a statement he will give to District Judge Sally Loehrer in hopes of receiving leniency.

Loehrer will sentence the 39-year-old construction worker to a life prison term, but her options are whether it will be with or without the possibility of parole after 10 years.

The state Parole and Probation Department has recommended that Meegan have no chance at parole.

Defense attorneys, however, charged that the report was biased and was little more than a repetition of the prosecution's closing arguments at the August trial.

Particularly offensive to the lawyers was a conclusion in the pre-sentence report about James and Lillian Meegan's failure to seek medical assistance for their baby when she fell into a coma and died, and their subsequent decision to hide the death.

"Mr. Meegan and his wife did not call 911 for assistance, or call for help, keeping a secret so dark and so menacing that it defies the laws of parenthood and humanity," stated the report written by officer Jeff Jeanquart.

Sgro fumed that "this is not an objective view" in the case that has garnered considerable media and public attention."

"The report does not assist the sentencing judge in determining a fair penalty for Meegan," the defense attorneys stated in their motion to postpone the sentencing.

Sgro called the report "an aberration" and asked that it be tossed out.

Trial testimony indicated that during a fit of anger James Meegan shook Francine Meegan into silence when she wouldn't stop crying.

The baby's body was hauled in a suitcase to a lonely gully in central Arizona, where it was doused with gasoline and set ablaze. The charred remains were discovered a few days later by cowboys driving cattle up the wash but Francine's identity remained a mystery for five years.

In requesting the delay in sentencing, defense attorneys listed two other concerns:

* Whether the timing of the sentencing -- just four days before the election that will determine whether she remains a district judge -- gives an appearance of impropriety, and

* Can Loehrer sentence Meegan and still legally retain jurisdiction over a pending motion by the defense for a new trial.

On that issue, Loehrer decided she could rule on the issue of a new trial until an appeal notice is filed with the Nevada Supreme Court. Defense attorneys have 30 days after sentencing to file such a motion and Loehrer said the new trial issue would be settled before that.

On the pre-election timing, Loehrer said Meegan should have been sentenced weeks ago except for the delays caused by him and she wasn't going to delay the sentencing any longer than necessary.

Loehrer added that keeping Meegan in the Clark County Detention Center is twice as expensive as housing him in prison.

"It's time for him to move on to the next chapter in his life," she said.

After Meegan's conviction in August, he returned to his module at the detention center, ran to the second-floor balcony and plunged off the rail.

But he only succeeded in breaking a leg, an arm and injuring his back and now must be transported to and from the courthouse in a wheelchair.

Lillian Meegan, who pleaded guilty to felony child abuse and neglect for her role oi not seeking aid for her baby, already has been sentenced by Loehrer to 18 years in prison.