NAACP wants probe of bail policies

Monday, Aug. 21, 2000 | 3:56 a.m.

The request follows the release of a white 19-year-old Reno man on his own recognizance the day after he allegedly ran a red light, causing a traffic accident that killed a Hispanic mother and her 6-month-old daughter.

"There have been a number of minorities who have tried to bail out on their own recognizance for charges less severe than the deaths of two people and who have had to post substantial bail," said Lonnie Feemster, president of the Reno-Sparks chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Carl Hinxman, head of the court services program under the control of the county court administrator, and Sheriff Dennis Balaam want to meet with Feemster and go over the program.

Deputy District Attorney Roy Stralla and Hinxman said racial bias had nothing to do with the way the McKellips' case was handled.

McKellips was at first charged with running a red light and driving on a suspended license after his pickup truck slammed into a car on July 29. Mayra Martinez, 17, of Sparks, and her daughter, Jennifer Ledezma, were killed.

McKellips was convicted as a juvenile of driving under the influence of alcohol in 1998. It was his first DUI offense. A misdemeanor warrant was issued when he failed to complete an alcohol counseling program ordered as part of his sentence.

Since the accident, McKellips was sentenced to 25 days in jail for failure to complete the alcohol counseling program.

Police found no trace of alcohol in McKellips' breath test after the fatal wreck. They ordered blood tests to determine if he was under the influence of drugs, but it took several days to receive results.

"Based on the misdemeanor charges of the red light and the suspended license, and based on the fact that the defendant had bail in the works, a decision was made to let him out of jail," Hinxman said.

"Easily it wasn't the most popular decision," Hinxman said. "But based on the charges that the police filed against him, he was going to get out of jail one way or the other."

McKellips' release was revoked after blood tests showed he was under the influence of marijuana at the time of the accident. He was then charged with two felony counts of driving under the influence of a prohibited substance causing death or substantial bodily harm.

Bail was then set at $60,000 and McKellips remains in jail.

"This case is being treated exactly the same as any other case regardless of race, social status or anything else," Stralla said.