Tight lid remains on Pope case

Bill Gang

Friday, Jan. 21, 2000 | 11:07 a.m.

The shroud of secrecy over the murder case of 15-year-old Conan Pope continued today when Justice of the Peace Tony Abbatangelo rejected legal challenges to his decision to close a hearing, gag lawyers and seal records.

Before running off the media and others in the courtroom, Abbatangelo indicated the secretive nature of the hearing involved "something that happened in the jail" and affected the judge's decision to release the teenager on house arrest.

Pope is charged as an adult in the shooting death of his father on Jan. 6 after 62-year-old Frank Pope returned home from work and erupted into a tirade over dirty dishes.

Nevada Press Association attorney Kevin Doty argued that before hearings in criminal cases can be closed to the public, there must be a finding by the judge that a defendant's fair trial rights would be adversely impacted by a public forum.

Doty argued that Abbatangelo has made no such finding.

Abbatangelo said there may be such an impact but he primarily was ruling that there needs to be privacy in this "very narrow issue" because of Conan Pope's age.

"The privacy issues far outweigh the public's right to know," the judge declared.

But under Nevada law, a juvenile charged with murder or attempted murder is automatically certified as an adult.

"Criminals don't have privacy interests," Doty countered.

Aside from the secretive issues, today's hearing involved the judge's reconsideration of an earlier decision to release Pope on house arrest at the home of a family friend pending a preliminary hearing.

The judge rescinded that earlier order and sent the teenager to the county's juvenile detention facility pending today's hearing.

Pope is charged with murder although he has claimed he was protecting his 16-year-old sister when he fired the fatal shots.

Pope's lawyer, Deputy Special Public Defender Kristina Wildeveld, has said that no one should believe the shooting occurred because of dirty dishes.

It was on a motion filed by Wildeveld that Abbatangelo issued his order gagging the attorneys and ordering documents sealed.