Judge will decide in secret whether to throw out testimony

Sandra Chereb

Thursday, April 6, 2000 | 4:55 a.m.

VIRGINIA CITY, Nev. - A judge decided he will hold a closed hearing next week to determine whether damaging statements made by three young men accused of killing a wild horse should be allowed at their trial.

First Judicial District Judge Michael Griffin said Thursday that he would close the proceeding because did not want media coverage of witness testimony to taint the jury pool.

Griffin said he'd "rather not have that stuff published before a jury is picked."

A hearing date was not set immediately.

Anthony Merlino, 21, and two former Marines, Darien Brock, 21, and Scott Brendle, 22, are each charged with one gross misdemeanor of maiming or killing another person's animal.

Defense lawyers maintain that statements made by their clients should be disallowed because they were made involuntarily or before they were given the Miranda warning advising them of their rights.

A ruling for the defense could leave a gaping hole in the case that Storey County Deputy District Attorney Sharon Claassen concedes is largely based on circumstantial evidence.

In a previous hearing, even the judge remarked, "Without the admission of the defendants you have no case."

The three former high school buddies initially were charged with the slaughter of more than 24 free-roaming mustangs in Largomarcino Canyon east of Reno in December 1998.

A justice of the peace threw out some of the charges after a preliminary hearing last fall.

Last month, the case was reduced further when Griffin ruled prosecutors lacked evidence to try the defendants for the killing of all but one animal.

An amended criminal information filed by Claassen accuses Brendle of being the trigger man who shot a 3 1/2 -year-old stud identified as horse No.12.

Brock is charged with aiding in the crime by holding a spotlight while the horse was shot and Brendle is accused of supplying the .270-caliber rifle used to commit the deed.

Trial is set to begin April 17. They face a maximum sentence of up to a year in jail and a $2,000 fine if convicted.

Brock and Brendle were on leave from the Marines when the shootings took place over a three-day period. After their arrest, the former lance corporals were given the equivalent of a dishonorable discharge.

All three admit being in the area with guns the evening of Dec. 27.

Investigators said Brock confessed to holding a spotlight while horses were shot and Brendle admitted shooting one horse but claimed he didn't kill it. Merlino said he finished off one wounded horse to put it out of its misery.

All three also admitted they hiked back into the hills to retrieve shell casings and beer bottles after reading about the mass killing, but deny responsibility for the slaughter that gained international attention.

Griffin on Thursday also denied a defense motion to move the trial out of Virginia City. But the judge said he would reconsider a change of venue if seating a jury proves difficult because of pretrial publicity.

Another defense motion that sought to prohibit the prosecution from presenting any evidence not directly linked to horse No. 12 was also denied.

"I do think we need to be able to tell the story," Claassen said in arguing against the motion.

Griffin agreed, saying jurors need to hear how the horses were discovered and what happened.