Attorney eyes Miranda rights in shooting case

Bill Gang

Friday, March 12, 1999 | 11:13 a.m.

The Nevada Supreme Court has been asked to overturn the conviction of a former paramedic who shot a woman twice in the head in a bizarre traffic altercation in 1993.

Thomas Schlafer was convicted in 1995 of battery with a deadly weapon by a jury that acquitted him of the more serious charge of attempted murder. But he was given the maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

His attorney, Tony Sgro, argued to a three-judge panel of the high court Thursday that the conviction was the result of improper actions by the prosecutor. Sgro said the prosecutor contended Schlafer had claimed self-defense after hearing police radio broadcasts about the case while he was seated in a patrol car after his arrest.

In reality, Sgro said, Schlafer had made the statement that he believed the woman had a gun before any of the radio traffic was overheard. But that statement and other information told to officers before he was given his Miranda warning was deemed inadmissible at trial by District Judge Lee Gates.

Before the Supreme Court, Deputy District Attorney Tamara Beatty-Peterson argued that Schlafer wanted to selectively use the initial statement but exclude following statements that would not have helped his case.

Sgro also alleged in the appeal that the prosecutor erred during closing arguments at the trial by reciting a biblical quote in emphasizing that Schlafer had fled the scene on Rancho Drive at U.S. 95 without giving assistance or notifying police. Religious references generally are not permitted to be used by prosecutors because it violates the separation of church and state.

But Beatty-Peterson downplayed the quote -- "The wicked flee when no man pursueth" -- as an innocuous phrase that emphasized a point more than it carried religious weight.

Sgro also said the conviction should be reversed because notes about a jailhouse snitch had not been turned over to the defense before trial, as required by law.

Beatty-Peterson, however, noted that prosecutors did not have possession of the notes at the time and turned over all the information they had.

In the 1993 incident, Melynda Tallent was struck in the head by two of five bullets fired by Schlafer. She suffered brain damage and lost much of her memory.

Schlafer had indicated the shooting had been preceded by a traffic altercation that had Tallent shouting and gesturing at him as their cars sat side by side at the intersection.

He testified that he picked up his gun from the seat next to him and fired because he believed she was reaching for a weapon to shoot him.