Much-troubled lawyer Steven Hill finds himself in trouble again

Bill Gang

Wednesday, Oct. 7, 1998 | 11:30 a.m.

Deputy Attorney General Victor Schulze predicted last month in court that former prosecutor and now convicted drug offender Steven Hill would be back behind bars within 30 days.

It took 26.

Schulze's reasoning was simple. Hill already had muffed his chance to save his law license and his career by being booted out of drug court for submitting a false urine sample.

Hill had gotten into drug court by pleading guilty to drug possession after having been caught with a hooker and two rocks of cocaine in his Corvette after Metro Police stopped him late one night in October 1996.

Hill compounded his drug court failure by walking away from a private drug treatment facility a few days later and then getting arrested on charges of trying to steal his ex-wife's car. That incident had occurred just hours after he had appeared in court to set a sentencing date in the drug case.

Hill's slide continued when he missed his sentencing date, resulting in a warrant being issued for his arrest and his eventual apprehension.

There also is a misdemeanor domestic violence case pending against him.

Hill told District Judge Michael Douglas last month, "I ruined my life."

He emotionally promised to do better and was given probation, although Douglas had no choice since the felony drug possession conviction requires probation under Nevada law.

But if Hill failed his probation, the underlying sentence was going to be one to four years in prison.

Douglas, however, gave Hill one last chance at resurrecting his life by structuring the sentence so the felony conviction could be wiped off the books and reduced to a gross misdemeanor if Hill completed probation.

Schulze doubted that would occur because of Hill's repeated failures in addressing his drug problem.

Sunday a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper arrested Hill on charges of reckless driving and possession of a hypodermic device and threw him into the Clark County Detention Center. He will sit there until next week when he again will face Douglas.

The state Parole and Probation Department is expected to seek revocation of probation, which would put Hill into a prison uniform for a year before he would be eligible for parole.

Since his original arrest a year and a half ago, the 32-year-old suspended lawyer has spent only a handful of days in jail or in treatment facilities.

Hill voluntarily placed his law license into "disability inactive" status earlier this year for what he described as a misguided attempt at "self medication" for a "depressive disorder." His license likely will be suspended by the State Bar Association because of the felony conviction.