Court briefs for November 16, 2001

Friday, Nov. 16, 2001 | 9:47 a.m.

Inmate files civil rights charge

A Nevada inmate has filed a civil rights complaint against almost one dozen state prison employees he claims stood by as a corrections officer threatened to slash his neck.

Courtney L. Lowe, incarcerated at the Southern Nevada Correctional Center at Indian Springs, alleges that a corrections officer placed a knife to his throat May 23, 2000, and uttered racial slurs and threatened to kill him.

Lowe alleges Warden Eddison Walker failed to properly train and supervise the corrections officers.

Lowe is seeking unspecified damages.

No parole given in shooting death

A Clark County jury Thursday spared the life of a Las Vegas man convicted of first-degree murder in a July 2000 shooting.

Instead of imposing the death penalty, the jury gave Damon Campbell a no-parole life term. They could also have given Campbell, 26, life in prison with parole possible after 40 years.

Campbell was convicted Tuesday of killing 32-year-old Louis Alberto Martinez in an alley east of downtown Las Vegas.

Witnesses said Campbell, who is black, opened fire after saying that he didn't want to see any more Hispanics in his neighborhood.

Jurors also found Campbell guilty of attempted murder with use of a deadly weapon in the shooting of Carlos Villanueva, 28, who was paralyzed.

Campbell was acquitted of attempted murder in the wounding of Leonardo Martinez, the dead man's brother. Prosecutors said Leonardo Martinez was grazed by a bullet as he held a young child in his arms

Campbell will be sentenced on the attempted murder charge Jan. 7.

Man receives life sentence

A Las Vegas man convicted of sexually assaulting a deaf and mute teenager was sentenced Thursday to life in prison by District Judge John McGroarty.

After a nine-day jury trial in October, Mario Lopez-Benitez was convicted of sexually assaulting the 13-year-old girl. The girl has the mental capacity of a 5-year-old child, according to court records.

Lopez-Benitez, who said he will appeal his conviction, will be eligible for parole after 20 years.