Videotaping testimony considered in quadruple murder case

Bill Gang

Tuesday, Oct. 12, 1999 | 10:46 a.m.

Prosecutors and an elusive witness in a quadruple homicide may agree that a videotaped deposition of her testimony could be a good idea -- although for different reasons.

Prosecutors want to take a videotape statement from Charla Severs in the event she again vanishes and can't be found to testify at the trial of Donte Johnson, the alleged triggerman in a quadruple murder.

Severs and her newly appointed attorney, Chip Siegel, may agree that she give the sworn statement although it would be to ensure her safety and secure her release from jail.

District Judge Jeff Sobel is scheduled to rule on the issue Thursday as Johnson's Jan. 10 trial date approaches.

Severs is said to have been present when the plot was hatched to rob the victims' home of a cache that was believed to include $6,000 in cash and a large quantity of drugs.

The Aug. 14, 1998, raid on the house near Nellis Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue netted only about $200, a VCR, a video game system and a few pills.

Before leaving, one of the bandits -- prosecutors allege it was the 19-year-old Johnson -- stood over each duct-taped and gagged victim and fired single bullets into the back of their heads.

Severs, who is known as "La La," has been sitting in jail for more than three weeks and could stay there until after Johnson's trial if she can't make bail and Sobel doesn't order her release.

The last time she was free she fled Las Vegas because of what she said was fear for her safety.

She disappeared without a word or a trace, and even her parents believed "the word on the street" that she had been killed to ensure she wouldn't appear to testify against Johnson, her ex-boyfriend.

But on Sept. 17 she surfaced in New York City. Police there arrested her on prostitution charges and notified Las Vegas authorities once they determined her true identity.

Deputy District Attorney Gary Guymon stated in court documents that Severs admitted that she fled Nevada after being threatened by a man with a violent past who was connected to Johnson.

Prosecutors want Severs to give a videotaped deposition that could be used at Johnson's trial should something happen to her or she again flees and isn't available to appear at the trial.

But Sobel indicated Monday he wants Severs to know her rights and appointed Siegel to represent her before Thursday's hearing.

While Siegel said Monday that he hasn't met with his client, he noted that it could be to her advantage to agree to the deposition.

He explained that in such cases, once testimony is taken in a sworn deposition, the death or disappearance of a witness does not prevent the witness's story from coming out in court. That should take away the motivation of a person to harm a witness or persuade that person not to testify.

In addition, Siegel said, the existence of a damaging videotape statement can actually prompt a defendant to want the witness to take the stand at trial in hopes the story will change or the credibility of the witness will be questioned by jurors.

In any event, giving a deposition should result in Severs' release from jail.

Guymon said Severs claimed she fled Las Vegas early this year after she "was threatened because she did not want to cooperate with Donte Johnson and continue to lie on his behalf."

The prosecutor conceded that Severs had given contradictory stories to police and Clark County grand juries. After implicating Johnson during her Sept. 15, 1998, grand jury testimony in the murders of four young men during the robbery, she attempted to recant the story.

Since her disappearance, two other defendants -- Sikia Smith, 19, and Terrell Cochise Young, 20 -- have been convicted of first-degree murder for their roles in the slayings. Both men were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The four victims in the house on Terra Linda Avenue were Jeffrey Biddle, 19, Tracey Gorringe, 20, Matthew Mowen, 19, and Peter Talamantez, 17.