Ex-deputy DA ejected from Drug Court for false urine sample

Bill Gang

Friday, May 29, 1998 | 10:04 a.m.

Former Deputy District Attorney Steve Hill, who was caught in October 1996 with cocaine in his car, has been booted out of District Judge Jack Lehman's Drug Court program and now faces a felony conviction.

Had he done what was required, Hill was within weeks of graduating and escaping the conviction that could affect his ability to continue practicing law.

Lehman ordered Hill into custody Wednesday night and had him taken to the Clark County Detention Center.

Lehman concluded that Hill had turned in a phony urine sample for the regular drug testing that is a requirement of the Drug Court program. That sample was drug free but the laboratory required Hill to give a monitored sample which revealed drugs were in his system.

While occasional drug test failures can prolong involvement in the multi-step Drug Court, it generally is not grounds for ejection from the program -- but submitting false samples is.

This was not Hill's first problem in Drug Court. The program was supposed to last about a year for a successful participant but Hill had been in it nearly a year and a half as his graduation was postponed repeatedly because of earlier failed drug tests and missed counseling sessions.

Hill's attorney Stephen Stein said the former prosecutor bailed out of jail and has checked himself into an in-patient substance abuse facility.

"It's crushing," Stein said.

To get into Drug Court and have the opportunity to have charges dismissed upon graduation, a defendant in a drug-related case must first plead guilty in District Court to the original charge.

Failure to complete Drug Court results in the case being referred back for sentencing in the original court. A June 1 appearance has been scheduled in District Judge Michael Douglas's courtroom to set a sentencing date, although the issue may have to be postponed because of Hill's drug counseling program.

A felony conviction for a lawyer is referred by the Nevada State Bar Association to the Nevada Supreme Court for disciplinary action. Such action can range from reprimands to suspensions to disbarment, depending on the facts in individual cases.

Hill was apprehended early one morning in October 1996 in his white Corvette while driving with a known prostitute. Metro Police discovered a small quantity of rock cocaine in an ashtray.

Hill eventually pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance not for the purpose of sale. Although it is a felony and carries a maximum four year sentence, state law requires that the sentence be probation.