Wednesday, July 7, 1999 | 10:17 a.m.
Kevin Houser was convicted after admitting to murder and kidnapping, but on appeal said he was pressured to enter his plea. He was sentenced to two life terms with the possibility of parole.
Houser said he was threatened that a trial in his case could ultimately result in the death penalty and falsely promised that a guilty plea would get him a medium-security prison term. He was just 17 at the time of his sentencing.
In rejecting Houser's appeal, the high court ruled that the plea negotiations had been going on for some time and that Houser was familiar with the process since he had entered a plea in a previous case.
Houser and another Las Vegas teen-ager, Devan Rivera, both got life terms for killing Ismael Arevinas in December 1996 near the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.
Arevinas was killed when Houser was out on bail and awaiting sentencing in another shooting case.
archive
