IRS bombing figure confuses attorneys

Tuesday, Sept. 3, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Charles C. Miller said he was typing a letter to Nevada authorities asking that he be appointed counsel of choice for Joseph Martin Bailie, 41, who was found guilty in June and is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 19.

Bailie created confusion Friday in Reno federal court when he told Judge Howard McKibben that he had retained Benjamin Zvenia of Las Vegas as his lawyer to replace Tod Young and Mark Jackson.

On Sunday, Zvenia, a Las Vegas radio talk-show producer, said he wanted to set the record straight that he isn't representing Bailie.

Zvenia said he has a law degree and had talked to Bailie's family for a broadcast. But he's unable to represent Bailie because he's not a member of the Nevada State Bar Association, he said.

"I appreciate the publicity, but my impression is he (Bailie) got me and Miller mixed up," Zvenia said.

Miller agreed, saying Bailie was confused when he appeared in court. He, not Zvenia, will be Bailie's counsel, he said.

Bailie and Ellis Edward Hurst, 53, wheeled a fuel-and-fertilizer bomb next to the IRS building on Dec. 17. A blasting cap went off, but the bomb failed to ignite.

Hurst, who cooperated with prosecutors and testified against Bailie, also will be sentenced Sept. 19.

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