Dettloff girlfriend, former attorney to be investigated

Angela Soo

Wednesday, May 23, 2001 | 10:17 a.m.

The Clark County District Attorney's office will pursue an investigation of Mitchell Dettloff's fiancee and former defense attorney after a grand jury recommended charges be filed.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Gary Booker said Tuesday that the grand jury members who indicted Dettloff on May 8 said they thought someone gave them false testimony on Dettloff's whereabouts after a fatal accident that killed three people last month.

"Somebody's not telling the truth," Booker said. "And we don't want perjury."

Booker said the grand jurors also thought some statements made by Dettloff's fiancee, Elizabeth Baclaan, were questionable. She said Dettloff's attorney, Mace Yampolsky, discouraged Dettloff from turning himself in after knowing that police were looking for him.

"Attorneys don't usually advise defendants to not turn themselves in early," Booker said. "It's not typical to hide out a client."

Baclaan's statements about Yampolsky opened questions about the defense attorney's ethics, Booker said. However, he said, it's too early to tell whether there is enough evidence for an indictment, because Booker has not spoken with Yampolsky and doesn't know what he actually said to Dettloff.

"We only have second-hand information from (Baclaan) that Dettloff was told by the attorney to not turn himself in immediately," Booker said.