Jury deliberates case of brothers’ deadly fight

Kim Smith

Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2002 | 9:51 a.m.

Jurors who must decide if a Las Vegas man accidentally killed his brother or murdered him resumed deliberations this morning.

Attorneys in the Daniel Jones case spent four hours instructing the six men and six women who make up the jury on the wide variety of options available to them.

While prosecutors traditionally devote a great deal of time in instructing jurors on the elements of first-degree murder, the circumstances in the Jones case mandated lengthy instructions on the less serious options of second-degree murder, voluntary and involuntary manslaughter.

Steven Jones, 20, died April 29, 2001, after Daniel Jones, 23, stabbed him in the heart inside the apartment they shared near Lamb Boulevard and Owens Avenue.

Jones testified Friday that he grabbed a steak knife during an argument with his brother in an attempt to get him to leave. He said he was backing up from his brother when his brother suddenly lunged at him and was accidentally stabbed in the chest.

Defense attorney Jennifer Bolton asked the jury to find her client not guilty of any of the possible charges.

"First and foremost, Danny Jones is not guilty of murder. He's not guilty of first-degree murder and he's not guilty of second-degree murder," Bolton said. "This was a tragic accident."

Bolton reminded jurors that neither well-known forensic pathologist Michael Baden nor local pathologist Gary Telgenhoff could say whether the knife that killed Steven Jones was thrust into him or if he was thrust onto the knife.

If Daniel Jones intended to kill his brother, Bolton said, why did he lock the door after his brother walked outside? It was because he was afraid of Steven and afraid he would come back in, Bolton said.

After Bolton sat down Deputy District Attorney Bernie Zadrowski told jurors that they had just been in the "Spin Zone."

Running through a red light and hitting someone is an accident, but stabbing someone is not, Zadrowski said.

"You can't run over someone with a steamroller and then say 'I didn't think he was going to die,' " Zadrowski said.

Zadrowski and fellow prosecutor Marc DiGiacomo told jurors that Jones could be convicted of murder under several theories. Going into the kitchen to retrieve a knife demonstrates willfulness, premeditation and deliberation -- all elements of first-degree murder, they said.

In addition, at least one witness testified Steven Jones also issued his brother a challenge to fight him.

A person can be convicted of second-degree murder, DiGiacomo said, if that person kills someone involuntarily during a crime that, by its very nature, could result in the loss of life.

Brandishing a knife, DiGiacomo said, is such a crime.