Attorneys rejected in quadruple murder case

Bill Gang

Tuesday, Oct. 6, 1998 | 1:17 a.m.

A bid by two attorneys to represent one of three teenagers charged in a quadruple murder because they can understand the black dialect spoken by the defendant was rebuffed today.

District Judge Joseph Pavlikowski ruled that because one of the attorneys is from out of state and the other is not certified to handle death penalty cases they weren't eligible to be court appointed.

Instead, Terrell Cochise Young, 19, will be represented by Las Vegas attorneys Lew Wolfbrandt and Martin Hastings. His arraignment has been scheduled for Friday.

Attorneys Terence Dickinson and Benjamin Childs sought the appointment, stating Young has trouble being understood because he speaks an African-American English dialect that is similar but not the same as ebonics.

Young is the third teenager alleged to have been involved in the robbery and execution slayings of four men during a robbery.

The others, who also face the possibility of the death penalty if convicted, include Sikia Lafayette Smith, 18, and Donte Johnson, 19, the one prosecutors have alleged was the triggerman.

The four victims were bound with duct tape and shot in the head. They have been identified as Jeffrey Biddle, 19, Tracey Gorringe, 20, Matthew Mowen, 19, and Peter Talamantez, 17.

Smith and Young have given statements to police admitting their roles in the case and implicating Johnson.