High court asked to reverse verdict in murder of sergeant

Bill Gang

Wednesday, Feb. 12, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

The Nevada Supreme Court has been asked to reverse Wilbert Leslie's conviction -- or at least his death sentence -- for coldly gunning down a Nellis Air Force Base sergeant moonlighting as a convenience store clerk.

But the high court justices, sitting in Las Vegas this week, didn't seem persuaded that Leslie, 21, got a raw deal at his trial, although an official decision on the case isn't expected for several months.

Leslie was convicted of robbing the convenience store in 1994 and shooting Sgt. William Prewitt as an apparent afterthought. A security video of the incident showed the airman did nothing to provoke it.

At Tuesday's Supreme Court hearing, Deputy Public Defender Roger Hillman argued that the evidence of guilt was thin against Leslie. He alleged that the prosecution stepped over the line in their dealings with Leslie's girlfriend to testify against him.

Twenty-year-old Rhesa Gamble testified that she drove him to the store at 3589 N. Nellis Blvd. and circled the block while he went inside with a gun.

She said that when he jumped into the car, he blurted out, "I shot him. I shot him. He wouldn't give me the money."

A tip to Secret Witness originally led police to Leslie and Gamble, and a search of her car turned up the murder weapon.

"Rhesa Gamble's testimony was bought and paid for in a plea bargain," Hillman said, adding that she was threatened with jail if she didn't testify against Leslie.

Deputy District Attorney David Roger said Gamble originally implicated Leslie in a statement to police but then changed her story despite "substantial evidence in the case."

Justice Bob Rose commented, "I don't think it's a departure from good prosecutorial conduct."

"When you hear a story of one who cold bloodedly murders another, I don't need to hear much more," added Justice Charles Springer.

Hillman also criticized the eyewitness identification of Leslie by a woman whom he said only saw the gunman from behind.

Roger said the witness, who was playing slot machines, actually saw Leslie's profile from both sides and picked him out in a lineup.

The prosecutor noted that she also identified his unique sneakers that police found in Leslie's home.

"No Bruno Maglis?" asked Rose.

"No, but just as unique," Roger replied.

In attacking the death penalty, Hillman said prosecutors should not have used the aggravating factor that there was the risk of harm to more than one person in the shooting of Prewitt.

Those at risk were two other clerks who were in a storeroom behind the counter when a bullet that missed Prewitt crashed through the wall.

"There was no evidence that Leslie knew he was risking harm to more than one person or that he knew where the others were," Hillman said.

Roger countered that it didn't matter what he knew, only that the danger existed.

The relatively quick appeal of the April conviction and death sentence was mandatory under court rules that are aimed at speeding up the death-penalty process.

At the trial, the sergeant's wife, Linda Prewitt, told the jury that he took the job at the convenience store to build a nest egg for his retirement from the Air Force 11 months later.

Although the security video memorialized the slaying, the picture quality was not sufficient to identify the face of the killer.

During Leslie's sentencing, Linda Prewitt leveled a venomous barrage at her husband's killer, calling him "a coward ... just scum" for the unprovoked shooting.

"You'll wake up every day knowing you are one day closer to death," she taunted. "And I hope I'm there to see it."