Case reopened after man dies of 1997 wounds

Keith Paul

Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2000 | 11:04 a.m.

When John Clements was shot in 1997, he didn't want Metro Police to pursue the case and refused to cooperate. After Clements' death Jan. 2 was ruled the result of that gunshot wound, Metro homicide detectives have reopened the case.

Detectives had leads in 1997, but they could do little without Clements' cooperation, homicide Lt. Wayne Petersen said.

"We had good information about who was responsible," Petersen said. "When he was alive, we really couldn't pursue it, but now we can move forward with the case."

A new law passed last year allows murder and manslaughter charges to be filed against an assailant no matter when the victim dies. But the measure may not apply to Clements' slaying because he was shot before the law's passage, Clark County District Attorney Stewart Bell said today.

"We are doing some research into the issue, but the change in the law isn't retroactive to the day the conduct occurred," Bell said. "But we asked the police to do their investigation, and we'll continue to look into it when we get all the specific facts."

Even if the new law doesn't apply, some charges could still be filed in the case. Bell said the statute of limitations on attempted murder charges has not run out in the case.

Clements, who was 30 years old when he died, was shot Aug. 23, 1997, about 3:45 a.m. on D Street and Van Buren Avenue apparently over a debt, Petersen said.

Clements died Jan. 2 and the Clark County coroner's office determined Monday he died as a result of the 1997 wounds, making the case a homicide, Petersen said. Detectives did not say this morning where Clements had been wounded.

Before the passage of the so-called "Chris Trickle" law, police and prosecutors couldn't even think about filing murder charges. Nevada law before the new legislation had a "year and day rule" that said a victim had to die within that time period for murder or manslaughter charges to be filed.

But last year a bill -- named for Las Vegas race car driver Chris Trickle -- moved its way through the Legislature. Trickle was shot in the head on Blue Diamond Road at Interstate 15 in February 1997. He died 13 months later.

No one has been arrested in connection with Tickle's shooting, but since he died more than a year and a day since he was shot, his killer cannot be charged with murder.

The "year and a day" rule dates back to a time when medical science was not as advanced as it is today and a positive connection was harder to prove between the time of an assault and a death some time later, Bell said.