Change of venue sought in market slayings

Bill Gang

Thursday, Jan. 6, 2000 | 11:14 a.m.

Attorneys for Zane Floyd, the man charged in the Albertson's supermarket massacre, contend there is no way he can get a fair trial in Clark County because of the news coverage that they say has tainted potential jurors.

Deputy Public Defender Douglas Hedger filed a motion Wednesday for a change of venue in the case that drew national attention when the incident occurred on June 3.

Hedger also filed court documents asking that the charges against Floyd be split into two trials -- one in the quadruple murder charges that could result in the death penalty if he is convicted, and one over the alleged sexual assault of an outcall entertainer a short time before.

Floyd was back in District Judge Jeff Sobel's courtroom today for the first time in months, but it was only for a status check on the progress of the case. The judge said he will not hear arguments on the motions but will issue a decision on Feb. 7.

The trial is still set for March 6.

The incident began during the early morning shift on June 3 when a man dressed in camouflage fatigues walked into the market at Sahara Avenue and Valley View Boulevard and began shooting at everyone in his path, pausing when necessary to reload and chasing down some victims.

Four people were killed in the rampage and one person was wounded and has since recovered.

Floyd, a 23-year-old ex-Marine and part-time nightclub bouncer, was arrested after he left the store with the shotgun pointed at himself.

The media arrived before the carnage ended and were shooting pictures and recording events when Floyd surrendered.

While the news coverage has slowed to a trickle in recent months as the case has plodded toward its trial date, there had been a deluge at the beginning and one poll indicated it was fifth most important story of the year.

Before today, there have been 47 newspaper articles published about the case and 79 television news spots aired.

Las Vegas 1, the 24-hour cable news station, even uses a clip of Floyd in one of its promos.

"The alleged crimes have engendered community shock, fear and indignation," the court motion stated. "The fact that these shootings took place in an average neighborhood at a public place -- a supermarket -- has caused the media to pay much closer attention and to give much more coverage than with other shootings."

"Clearly this case has been publicized so extensively and in a manner so prejudicial to the interests of the defendant that it has inevitably jeopardized his rights to a ... trial before a fair and impartial jury," the court motion concluded.

The defense contends that "an unbiased verdict cannot be reasonably expected in Clark County.

But the problem for the defense is that Nevada law requires that an attempt be made to seat a fair jury before a request to change the location of the trial can be made.

That generally has not been much of a problem and even in the highly publicized Jeremy Strohmeyer trial over the rape and murder of a 7-year-old girl in a Primm casino restroom, it took only three days to select a jury.

Hedger argued in court documents that it is "unrealistic" to expect that people who have been exposed to large amounts of publicity in a case can set aside their impressions and fairly decide a person's guilt or innocence.

In Floyd's case, the issue could be greater because the district attorney's office will be seeking the death penalty if he is convicted of first-degree murder.

"The alleged crimes have become so embedded in the public consciousness that the short passage of time has not and will not diminish them," the court motion states.

In the motion to separate the charges against Floyd into two trials, the defense argued that a jury's knowledge of the alleged sexual assault incident shortly before the murder likely would prompt a conviction on the murder charges.

Hedger said in court documents that the charges involve two separate incidents that are not connected closely enough to warrant a single trial.

But Metro Police homicide detectives have said the outcall entertainer informed them Floyd stated minutes before the rampage that he had 19 shotgun shells and was going to kill the first 19 people he saw.

The court motion contends that "during the course of the sexual assault, the defendant's mind drifted in and out of reality. During this drifting, the defendant allegedly made comments about the military and killing people.

"After the sexual assault, the exotic dancer observed the defendant load the shotgun, but he told her he would not hurt her and told her to go," the motion continued. "Later that morning, the defendant is alleged to have walked to a nearby grocery store and to have shot five people, killing four."

Hedger said that while he expects prosecutors to argue that the woman could testify about Floyd's state of mind, she actually could add little to the murder case.

The defense conceded that the evidence includes store employees identifying Floyd as the gunman, videos from surveillance cameras and Floyd's arrest with his shotgun in his hands.

"The prosecution certainly does not need the exotic dancer to identify the defendant," Hedger wrote in arguing for separate trials.

"A jury hearing evidence of all the charges at the same time will be hard pressed to disregard the highly inflamatory sexual assault charges from the emotionally charged murder counts," the documents says.

Another legal problem involves Floyd's right to testify or not to testify about the allegations against him.

Hedger noted that having just one trial would prevent Floyd from speaking in his own defense on the sexual assault charges but not on the murder charges, or vice versa. Once on the witness stand, Floyd could legally be cross examined about all charges, under Nevada law.

"Given that the defendant's life is on the line, a severance is the most appropriate ruling," the court motion argued.

District Attorney Stewart Bell, who is prosecuting the case, said the death penalty is allowable in the Floyd case because there were multiple slayings committed at random and without motive during a burglary.