Strohmeyer returns to prison after plea denied

Bill Gang

Thursday, Feb. 10, 2000 | 11:18 a.m.

Officials were preparing today to return confessed child killer Jeremy Strohmeyer to a protective custody cubicle at Nevada State Prison in Carson City after a judge Wednesday denied his request to withdraw a guilty plea in the death of Sherrice Iverson.

Strohmeyer, serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole, had sought a trial on the charges of murder, kidnap and rape, saying he could not remember what happened in the women's restroom of a Primm casino, where the 7-year-old's body was found propped in a stall on May 25, 1997.

His 1998 trial was short-circuited when he agreed to the plea bargain that put him in prison for life. If he had been convicted, a jury could have given him the death penalty.

His lawyers argued in the request for a trial that Strohmeyer had been coerced to agree to the plea bargain by his former attorneys, Leslie Abramson and Richard Wright.

After the decision, District Attorney Stewart Bell said simply, "Justice was done a year ago and was done again today."

The case attracted national attention, and the courtroom of District Judge Joseph Bonaventure was packed with news crews from Court TV, Los Angeles television stations and local media, as well as activists and supporters of the Iverson family.

The judge recognized Strohmeyer's plight in prison and his desire for a chance at freedom one day, but in rejecting his bid to withdraw the guilty plea, the judge didn't sympathize with the 21-year-old killer.

"With the passage of time, the reality of being behind bars for the rest of one's life must become more and more disheartening," Bonaventure said in his decision. "To watch one's self deteriorate into the hopelessness that only prison can bring comes with it the sense of unfairness that justice was not served.

"But to poor little Sherrice Iverson, the unfairness is that no matter what consolation the justice system may achieve, she will never again be able to walk upon this earth, and her family will never be whole," Bonaventure said.

He called Strohmeyer's claim that he remembers little of the incident that led to his incarceration "a distorted, self-serving, embellished view."

Bonaventure dismissed Strohmeyer's claim that he wants to know the truth, noting that he confessed in detail to police following his arrest three days after the incident in the state-line casino 50 miles southwest of Las Vegas.

Looking down at Strohmeyer, the judge then stated, "This court cannot tell you why you did what you did, but this court finds ... the truth to be that you, Mr. Strohmeyer, did in fact kidnap, and kill Sherrice Iverson."

Robert Preuss, one of Strohmeyer's new lawyers, suggested that Bonaventure's decision was a result of the "politically charged" atmosphere of the case and commented that the ruling was a "deep, deep disappointment" to Strohmeyer.

The defendant's father, John Strohmeyer, said at a news conference after the announcement that "Yes, we're discouraged," but said that further appeals are likely.

He noted that Las Vegas is a "destination resort" and contended that there was a great push because of "the money involved ... to get this behind them as quickly as possible."

"I'm pretty unclear what the truth is," he said. "I think it will unfold some day, but today is not that day. There are a lot of facts and a lot of fabrication. Where they merge I don't know."

To win, Strohmeyer's New York lawyers Preuss and Camille Abate had to prove that the trial lawyers were incompetent or unfairly muscled the defendant into taking the plea bargain.

Bell called Strohmeyer's defense by Abramson and Wright "the most vigorous" he has seen in his career.

Bonaventure agreed, terming them "the A-team of defense counsel."

Preuss had argued the defense team told Strohmeyer that under the best of circumstances he would be convicted at a trial and wouldn't be eligible for parole for 75 years. Strohmeyer should have been told there would have been a chance for parole after 25 years, Preuss said.

Wright testified Wednesday that such a possibility was unreasonable given the facts, the judge and jury and political climate surrounding the case.

He told how he was surprised when Bell agreed to abandon the prosecution's efforts to seek the death penalty and let Strohmeyer take a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.

While the New York lawyers said Strohmeyer always was willing to risk the death penalty to take his case to a jury, Wright told how the young man finally decided just after the jury was picked that he didn't want to take that risk.

Wednesday's hearing was disrupted momentarily when there was an escape attempt by a Drug Court defendant in another courtroom, who had just been ordered taken into custody by District Judge Jack Lehman.

The commotion outside Bonaventure's courtroom resulted in a corrections officer, with his hand on his gun, hauling Strohmeyer to the safety of a hallway behind the courtroom while other officers investigated the incident.

Strohmeyer was returned moments later when it was determined the disruption was neither an attempt to free Strohmeyer nor an attempt on his life.

The escapee was arrested by pursuing bailiffs outside the courthouse, after he slightly injured one officer.

But for Strohmeyer at this point, his future will consist of years of endless days in a protective custody cubicle at the Ely State Prison. He is released for only an hour a day and closely watched because of threats against his life.