Court briefs for April 11, 2002

Thursday, April 11, 2002 | 9:45 a.m.

Man indicted in 1997 accident

A 32-year-old man has been indicted in a 1997 crash that left one person dead and another seriously injured.

Randy Patrick White faces one count each of driving under the influence causing death, driving under the influence causing substantial bodily harm and involuntary manslaughter. He was also indicted on two counts each of leaving the scene of an accident and reckless driving.

Deputy District Attorney James Hartsell said White had more than double the legal limit of alcohol in his system when his vehicle collided with LaTonya Walker's at the intersection of Lamb and Lake Mead boulevards.

Walker, 26, was killed and one of White's passengers was seriously injured, Hartsell said.

White fled the scene of the accident, but was caught in a nearby field, Hartsell said.

Man killed in three-car crash

A Las Vegas woman was indicted Tuesday a crash that killed an elderly man in January 2001.

According to an indictment unsealed Wednesday, Beatrice Quill faces two counts of reckless driving and one count of involuntary manslaughter.

Police allege Quill went through a red light at Jones Boulevard and Alta Drive and struck a pickup. The truck was forced into a Lincoln driven by Leo Carroll, 70.

All three cars careened up onto the sidewalk and into a fence on the southwest corner of the intersection. The pickup ended up coming to a rest halfway on top of the Lincoln.

Carroll was killed in the Jan. 15, 2001, crash. Quill and the other driver were taken to the hospital, but have since recovered from their injuries.

Deputy District Attorney Patrick Ferguson said Quill told police at the scene she had been hearing voices and was trying to get away from them.

8 years given in child's shooting

A 27-year-old Las Vegas man already serving three years on drug and domestic violence charges was sentenced to three to eight years in prison Wednesday in the shooting of an 8-year-old girl.

District Court Judge Kathy Hardcastle ordered Daniel McLeroy to serve the sentences at the same time.

Prosecutors alleged McLeroy, Eric Ogle, 29, and Andre Lee, 30, got into a confrontation near Eastern Avenue and Bonanza Road Dec. 8, pulled weapons and fired at each other.

Karatoya Wilkes, 8, was struck in the chest by one of the bullets, but has recovered.

Citizen's-arrest shooting rejected

The Nevada Supreme Court voted 4-3 Wednesday to reject efforts by a Carson City man to avoid felony assault charges for shooting at a man who tried to run down one of his employees.

The high court ruling against Roland Weddell followed a similar ruling last July by a three-justice panel of the court. Weddell then asked all justices to consider his case.

The majority opinion, written by Justice Deborah Agosti, said Weddell had no absolute common law or statutory right to fire a gun in attempting a citizen's arrest.

Firing a gun at James Bustamonte in October 1997 would be considered unreasonable unless Weddell faced serious harm to himself or others, Agosti said.