Judge says county must pay doctors in DUI case

Kim Smith

Friday, Jan. 19, 2001 | 11:10 a.m.

The doctors who are expected to testify at the trial of a man accused of causing an accident that killed one woman and paralyzed another will be paid for by taxpayers.

District Judge Valorie Vega Thursday said Clark Morse is entitled to have his endocrinologist and psychologist's fees paid for by Clark County because he is indigent.

Morse is accused of running a red light on March 11 and causing a chain reaction accident that killed Lela Jay, 45, and seriously damaged the spine of Cynthia Jay-Brennan, a 37-year-old woman who just weeks before had won $35 million from a Las Vegas Megabucks slot machine.

Morse's attorneys told Vega that Morse's psychologist will testify he is borderline retarded.

Endocrinologists study hormonal and metabolism problems. Morse suffers from diabetes, which is one of the more common ailments endocrinologists treat.

Vega also on Thursday denied two motions to dismiss some of the charges Morse faces.

While Morse faces charges of driving while intoxicated and reckless driving, he can only be punished for one of them even if he is convicted of both.

As a result, defense attorney Lew Brandon Jr. argued one or the other of the charges should be dismissed. He also wanted the district attorney's office to choose between the two different DUI charges.

Morse currently faces DUI charges under the premise that his blood alcohol content was over 0.10 at the time of the crash and he was under the influence of alcohol.

Brandon argued that Morse's blood was taken after the two-hour time frame written into the law and therefore his blood tests should be thrown out.

Morse's trial is scheduled for Feb. 26.