Defendant in abuse case plans to represent himself

Kim Smith

Friday, April 26, 2002 | 10:57 a.m.

Derrick Inkton says it doesn't matter that he can barely read. Or write.

He says it doesn't matter that he didn't finish the fourth grade and his freedom is on the line.

None of that matters, Inkton says. He is going to represent himself when he stands trial on charges of killing his 8-month-old son Jeremiah Lee.

"My mind is made up," the 36-year-old Oklahoma native said during a jail interview Thursday.

Inkton said the way he figures it, whether he acts as his own attorney or allows his court-appointed attorney to stay on his case, the result will be the same -- life in prison.

"I pretty much already faced the outcome. About already accepted it," Inkton said.

Inkton won the right to represent himself on Wednesday after months of complaining about Deputy Public Defender Scott Coffee. The former truck washer alleges Coffee has failed to visit him in the Clark County Detention Center, investigate the case or subpoena the appropriate witnesses for his May trial. Inkton is charged with murder by child abuse and faces life with or without the possibility of parole if convicted. Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty.

District Judge Donald Mosley declined to appoint a new attorney to Inkton's case. He also tried unsuccessfully to persuade Inkton to reconsider his decision to represent himself.

According to the U.S. Supreme Court, defendants can serve as their own attorney as long as they do so voluntarily and knowingly, as long as they are aware of the dangers and disadvantages of doing so and as long they are mentally competent and intelligent, despite their lack of a law degree.

To determine whether Inkton met the legal standard, Mosley spent 30 minutes asking him a series of questions established by a U.S. Supreme Court case -- Faretta v. California.

After learning of Inkton's lack of education, Mosley asked him how he will be able to work on strategy and cross-examine witnesses if he can't read legal documents, medical reports, witness statements and law books.

Again and again, Inkton told the judge he didn't know, but he wasn't going to change his mind.

Mosley told Inkton "man to man" that Coffee is a good attorney and jurors often grow impatient with delays caused by defendants.

"This isn't a light matter and that jury is going to eat you alive, I'm afraid," Mosley said.

When asked if he wanted another week to think his decision over, Inkton replied "No, sir."

After the hearing Coffee said the law prohibits him from discussing the specifics of his relationship with his clients. However, he said he tried to meet with Inkton to discuss his case repeatedly, but Inkton refused to speak to him.

"I actually like Mr. Inkton, but as you can see, he's incredibly stubborn," Coffee said. "He doesn't always agree with my strategies."

Although judges have the option of appointing other attorneys to a case once problems arise, the practice is frowned upon, Coffee said.

"I don't know if it's a good practice to deny such motions, but it's a necessary practice," Coffee said. "The thinking is that it's too easy for a defendant to throw a wrench into the system for a long time by switching attorneys all of the time. That's what happened in the Charles Ng case."

Ng was convicted of 11 murders in a sex and torture spree in a case that took almost 12 years to get through the California criminal justice system, Coffee said. Ng went through seven or eight attorneys, he said.

Coffee said he had planned to argue that bruises found on Jeremiah's body were the result of resuscitation efforts by Inkton.

Inkton found the baby unresponsive in his bed in July 2001. An autopsy revealed brain injuries and bruising consistent with Shaken Baby Syndrome.

"I hope he does OK; he's got some decent issues that involve some technical matters, but I don't know how he's going to address them," Coffee said.

In the interview Thursday, Inkton said education was not emphasized in the home he grew up in with his widowed mother and three siblings.

"Where I grew up it was a ghetto. There wasn't too much background, as far as having parents having you in school," Inkton said. "My mom did the best she could, but as far as (getting) educated, it was limited on her part, too."

Inkton acknowledged that in addition to his lack of a formal education, he is facing other uphill battles. At the time of his son's death he was running from authorities in Oklahoma, and marijuana was found in his home.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Doug Herndon said Inkton also has past felony convictions, all for property crimes.

"We were on the run, but we were tired of living that life," Inkton said. "My wife had gotten pregnant with Jeremiah and we decided to settle down and get off the streets."

Once they arrived in Las Vegas, Inkton said he got jobs washing trucks at two truck stops and his wife got a job, too.

A week before Jeremiah died, Inkton said he took his son to University Medical Center because he was vomiting, lethargic and flushed-looking. Doctors said he was dehydrated, according to Inkton.

On the day his son died, Inkton said, he stayed home from work to care for Jeremiah because he was still a little sick.

That evening, while his wife was still at work, Inkton said he found his son covered in vomit and not breathing in his bed.

"I panicked, you understand what I'm saying?" Inkton said. "I hit him on the back and I squeezed him trying to get him to come around. I was extremely trying to get him to come around and maybe I was a little rough with him."

Inkton said he is willing to admit his actions may have contributed to the baby's death, but is irate that prosecutors will try to prove he abused the boy.

"I'm not trying to run away from this," Inkton said. "I was at the hospital. I called 911 and I answered all of their questions, but they're trying to make it sound like I first-degree murdered my son."

Inkton said he intends to call witnesses, including those from his son's day care, who will testify he had a loving relationship with the baby, whom he said was his "spitting image."

Had he actually murdered his son, Inkton said, he would willingly spend the rest of his days in prison.

"The only thing that helps me is that God knows that I didn't kill my son," Inkton said. "I couldn't live with myself otherwise."