Court briefs for August 27, 2001

Monday, Aug. 27, 2001 | 10:40 a.m.

California man is convicted

Jurors will begin Tuesday to weigh the fate of a California man they convicted of killing a Kentucky tourist at the Stratosphere.

The jury took less than three hours Friday to convict Val Stallworth of first-degree murder in the death of Stephen Nally. Now they must decide if he should receive the death penalty.

Prosecutors said Jamie Shuey lured Nally into a room at the hotel by promising him sex or drugs and that Stallworth strangled and robbed him.

Nally's bound and gagged body was found in his hotel room May 29, 2000. The pair were arrested after a check of security videotapes showed that no one but them and Nally had entered the room between May 26 and May 29.

The jury also convicted Stallworth on burglary, kidnapping and robbery charges stemming from an earlier incident at the Travelodge Motel, 2830 Las Vegas Blvd. South.

A couple staying at the motel were tied up with torn bedsheets and robbed of credit cards, cash and a cellular phone.

Shuey, who faces charges in both cases, is scheduled for trial in December.

Judge to rule on new-trial motion

District Judge Joseph Bonaventure will decide Friday if Margaret Rudin is entitled to a new murder trial because of her attorney's alleged incompetence.

Deputy Public Defender Craig Creel spent an hour Friday discussing the faults of Rudin's former defense attorney, Michael Amador. They ranged from a lack of trial preparation to failure to raise objections at trial to alleged ethical and moral lapses.

Creel said Amador knows "more about strippers than double jeopardy."

Creel also made it clear he thinks Bonaventure and the prosecutors were guilty of misconduct during the trial, although the judge had already ruled he believed those arguments "without merit."

Rudin was convicted May 1 of first-degree murder in the December 1994 death of her multimillionaire husband, Ronald Rudin.

Should Bonaventure deny her motion for a new trial, she will be sentenced Friday.

The judge said the Department of Parole and Probation has recommended she receive a no-parole life term.

Jury can't decide penalty

A Clark County jury that took less than six hours to convict a Las Vegas man of a double homicide could not decide if he should die for the crime.

The jury deliberated about 14 hours over three days but on Friday could not reach a unanimous decision in the Darion Daniel case.

As a result, District Judge Donald Mosley will join two out-of-county judges in deciding Daniel's fate. A date for that proceeding has not yet been set.

Fred Washington, 24, and Mark Payne, 25, were killed in the January 1997 shootings.

Two other men, Antoine Hall and Tehran Woods, 24, were shot but survived.