Judge denies Weber venue change

Erica D. Johnson

Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2002 | 9 a.m.

The amount of media attention that accused killer and rapist Timmy Weber has received could interfere with his right to a fair trial, Weber's attorneys said Monday.

But District Judge Joseph Bonaventure rejected Deputy Public Defender Joseph Abood's motion to change venue or sequester jurors in Weber's trial, which is scheduled to begin Feb. 10.

Weber faces 18 felony counts, including murder with the use of a deadly weapon in the April deaths of his girlfriend, Kim Gautier, 38, and her 15-year-old son Anthony. Weber is also accused of raping Gautier's 14-year old daughter.

He is being held without bail in the Clark County Detention Center. The 28-year-old faces the death penalty.

The motion to change venue and sequester jurors was one of 18 motions filed by Weber's defense lawyers.

Because of the publicity surrounding the case, Abood said, it will be difficult to find jurors in Las Vegas who have not already formed opinions about the case.

It would be even more difficult to prevent jurors from being inundated with newspaper, television and website reports during the trial, he said.

"In this modern day, it is so easy to find out everything you want to know about a case with the click of a computer," Abood said. "In death penalty cases, it is in everyone's best interest to have a higher caution level."

Bonaventure told Abood he would consider sequestering the jury in the future if a problem arises.

But juries are forbidden from reading or listening to any outside reports and from discussing the case they are serving on, Bonaventure said.

"I might very well sequester the jury at the time of deliberations," he said. "But from the beginning I'm going to deny it. If there comes a time when I can't get an impartial jury, then perhaps I'll entertain a motion of a change of venue."

Chief Deputy District Attorney Robert Daskas said planning to sequester the jury was premature.

"We don't know if any of the jurors will be exposed to the pre-trial publicity or if jurors who have been exposed to that publicity can be impartial and fair," he said.

Bonaventure granted Abood's motion to give all potential jurors a questionnaire that would outline their background their views on the death penalty.

The questionnaire is common in capital punishment cases, Daskas said.

Defense attorneys also filed a motion to have separate trials for each charge Weber faces, and Bonaventure denied it.

Another motion asked to disallow a flight instruction, in which jurors would be allowed to consider Weber's fleeing from the crime scene as evidence of his guilt.

Bonaventure said he would wait to rule on that motion until prosecutors introduce evidence during the trial.