Driving ban is ordered: Fatal crash blamed on cell-phone use

Kim Smith

Monday, July 23, 2001 | 9:52 a.m.

Saying she didn't believe the defendant purposely violated the spirit of a court order, District Judge Nancy Saitta did not revoke the bail Friday of a woman accused of causing a fatal accident while on her cell phone.

Saitta did, however, tell Karen Morris, 34, she is not to drive until her case is resolved and ordered her driver's license to be revoked.

Police believe Morris was talking on her cell phone and driving about 20 mph over the posted speed limit when she drove through two red lights and collided with a vehicle being driven by Leona Greif, 61, on March 25.

Greif and Marcia Nathans, 65, were killed. Nathans' son, Elliott Nathans, sustained severe head injuries.

Morris was indicted on three counts of reckless driving and two counts of involuntary manslaughter and is scheduled to go on trial Aug. 6.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Gary Booker sought to have Morris' $100,000 bail revoked or increased after he discovered Morris replaced the driver's license the Nevada Highway Patrol took from her following the accident.

Booker told Saitta Friday that Justice of the Peace Douglas Smith set Morris' bail at a relatively small amount because he ordered her not to drive and didn't believe her to be a danger to the community.

When Saitta arraigned Morris in April, the bail amount remained the same, as did the conditions of bail, Booker said.

Morris' attorney, John Lukens, told Saitta that the conditions were not addressed during Morris' arraignment, so he told her she could replace her driver's license.

Saitta said that because the conditions were not specifically addressed at the arraignment she could not blame Morris for getting the license.

She denied Booker's request to revoke or increase the bail, but she also denied Lukens' request to release Morris on her own recognizance.

Booker also asked Saitta to take Morris' cell phone away from her, noting that witnesses have seen her driving and talking on it since the accident.

Saitta declined, saying that a jury must determine if cell-phone use led to the accident and that Nevada has not joined the list of states banning cell-phone use while driving.