Talented lawyer Hill dead at 33 from apparent drug overdose

Bill Gang

Thursday, Aug. 19, 1999 | 11:08 a.m.

As a deputy district attorney Steven Hill displayed a keen legal mind and a promising courtroom flair to complement an aggressiveness honed as a boxer in his youth.

But that was before his career was consumed in a flame-out of drugs and the resulting criminal allegations and convictions.

On Wednesday the drugs also consumed his life on a stairwell leading to a friend's residence in an apartment area just east of the Strip known for its narcotics trade.

That is where Hill's body was found about 9:40 a.m., according to Metro Homicide Detective Wayne Petersen, who added that the cause of death "appears to be an accidental drug overdose."

Services are pending through Palm Mortuary, 1600 S. Jones Blvd.

Those who had worked with Hill in the legal system in hopes they could push him back into the mainstream of life lamented his death at age 33.

Deputy Attorney General Victor Schulze, who had prosecuted Hill on his original drug possession charge more than two years ago, said the death "prematurely ended a life with so much promise."

"We hoped our involvement in the case would foster his rehabilitation into a meaningful lifestyle," Schulze said. "He was a talented prosecutor who contributed much to the criminal justice system before his out-of-control involvement in narcotics.

"This exemplifies the absolute destructiveness and futility of drug use and the high cost to those who use it."

District Judge Michael Douglas had presided over Hill's drug case and tried to fashion a sentence that might someday let Hill regain the license to practice law that he surrendered as his life crumbled.

"This is an example that no matter how smart you are, you're not smarter than drugs," Douglas said.

The judge said he was surprised by the death because Hill hadn't been in court lately "so I figured he was doing what he was supposed to."

District Judge Jack Lehman, who presides over Drug Court where Hill spent more than a year and a half before being kicked out for submitting a false urine test, said he was saddened by the death.

"This is a classic example of what drugs do to a human being," Lehman said. "He was a young man with a great career who was doing a terrific job but got on drugs and lost it all."

Hill's demise began in October 1996 when he was stopped by police during the early-morning hours in a seedy part of the downtown area. A known prostitute was sitting beside him and two rocks of cocaine were in an ash tray.

He lost his job as a prosecutor but had a chance to resurrect his career as a lawyer if he completed Lehman's yearlong Drug Court program.

But after a roller-coaster year and a half, Hill flunked out of the program because he was unable to kick his drug habit and tried to circumvent the Drug Court requirements by submitting a false urine sample.

He was put on probation by Douglas, but that lasted less than a month before he was arrested again -- this time for attempting to steal his ex-wife's car.

Douglas gave him another chance at probation but Hill still struggled with his addiction.

An autoposy and toxicology report to determine the cause of death is not expected for two weeks, Petersen said.