Lawyers cite reasons for dismissal

Kim Smith

Monday, July 16, 2001 | 10:27 a.m.

The attorneys for a Las Vegas man accused of causing an accident that killed three people believe there are more than half a dozen reasons the charges against him should be dismissed.

According to court documents filed Thursday, prosecutors obtained an indictment against Mitchell Dettloff by using inadmissible evidence designed to inflame the passions of the grand jurors who heard his case in May.

Dettloff's attorney Richard Wright said the grand jury proceeding was fraught with so many errors that District Judge Joseph Bonaventure must dismiss the case against his client.

Prosecutors have not yet filed a response to Wright's writ of habeas corpus, but a hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 16 to discuss the matter.

Dettloff, 35, is awaiting trial in the deaths of Benjamin Barton, 8, Holly Barton, 33, and James Cooper, 30. He is also accused of critically injuring James Barton, 32.

Prosecutors allege Dettloff lost control of his vehicle April 22 while driving on U.S. 95. They say it forced a pickup carrying the Barton family to strike Cooper's vehicle head-on.

Dettloff fled the scene, police said. He was arrested three days after the accident at the Rio hotel-casino, where he was staying in a room rented by his fiancee.

Dettloff was indicted May 8 on four counts each of leaving the scene of an accident and reckless driving and three counts of involuntary manslaughter.

According to Wright's motion, the grand jurors both saw and heard evidence that is clearly inadmissible under Nevada law. They include:

In addition, Wright said, the prosecutors didn't make a clear record of the grand jury proceedings. Because defense attorneys are not allowed into the room, they must read transcripts of the proceeding.

However, in reading the transcripts in the Dettloff case, it is impossible to tell what the witnesses are talking about when they refer to diagrams of the accident, Wright wrote.

Wright wrote that "any one of the state's errors by itself suffices to dismiss the indictment against the defendant."

Dettloff was released on $500,000 bail last week and remains on house arrest pending his trial in October.