Court briefs for Sept. 15, 2000

Friday, Sept. 15, 2000 | 10:48 a.m.

Wife of accused can't watch trial

The wife of a Las Vegas man accused in the slaying of a prostitute will not be allowed to watch the trial.

District Judge Joseph Bona-venture ruled Thursday that Melanie Collins can't watch the trial next week of her husband, Ronald Collins, on the off-chance she may change her mind and decide to testify on her husband's behalf.

If she were to do so, Chief Deputy District Attorney Ed Kane said her testimony could be tainted by what she heard from the other witnesses.

According to police, Ronald Collins slashed and stabbed Agnes K. Ready to death in the kitchen of his home on Jan. 11. The slaying was discovered when Melanie Collins walked in and found her husband and Ready naked and bloody underneath a blanket.

Melanie Collins has invoked her spousal right not to testify at Collins' trial, which will begin Tuesday with jury selection.

Plea reached in neglect case

A Las Vegas man accused of leaving his 11-month-old baby unattended in a bathtub in May has entered a plea agreement in her death.

Johnny Avila pleaded guilty to one count of abuse and neglect and one count of voluntary manslaughter in the May 28 death of Katie Cortes.

Police alleged Avila put the baby in the tub to cool a fever and then fell asleep with the tub still running.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Vicki Monroe said Avila faces one to 10 years on the manslaughter charge and two to 20 years on the abuse charge. It is up to District Judge Joseph Bonaventure to decide if they should be run at the same time or one after the other, although she will recommend they be served concurrently, Monroe said.

"There are no winners in this case, a baby is dead because of the neglect of her father, but he appears to be genuinely remorseful for what he has done," Monroe said.

Trial set in beating of woman

A Jan. 16 trial date has been set for a man accused of killing one elderly woman and beating another.

District Judge Kathy Hardcastle set Anthony Dotson's trial date Thursday after denying a routine defense motion to dismiss his indictment.

Dotson is accused of murder, robbery, kidnapping and burglary in connection with the December bludgeoning death of Doris Bair, 79, and an attack a few days later on Kathryn Waldman, 87.

Bair's body was found by police after neighbors called concerned that they hadn't seen her in awhile. An autopsy showed she died from several blows to the head. Among the items missing from her home was her 1991 Mercury.

Lawyer claims errors in trial

CARSON CITY -- A defense lawyer told the Nevada Supreme Court Thursday that there were errors made in the trial of killer Gregory Leonard, sentenced to death in two separate cases involving strangulation of men in Las Vegas.

JoNell Thomas argued there was no showing of premeditation in the murder of Tony Antee, whose body was found under Leonard's bed at his Twain Avenue apartment in January 1995. Deputy District Attorney Peggy Leen, however, argued that there was an abundance of evidence showing premeditation and deliberation.

Thomas also argued that Leonard had ineffectual counsel when he was found guilty of strangling 64-year-old Thomas Williams and sentenced to death. Thomas said Leonard's attorney did not put anyone on the stand to testify during the penalty phase. Leen said, however, that Leonard's attorney was following Leonard's own wishes.