Probation, weekends in jail handed down in double fatal

Kim Smith

Thursday, Jan. 24, 2002 | 9:27 a.m.

Karen Morris, accused of causing a fatal accident while talking on a cell phone, said she was grateful for the chance to apologize.

"I am very, very sorry," said Morris, sentenced Wednesday to five years' probation in the deaths of Leona Greif, 61, and Marcia Nathans, 65.

Nathans' son, Elliot Nathans, 45, sustained severe head injuries in the crash. Morris and her 7-year-old daughter incurred minor injuries.

"No one will ever be able to understand how sorry I am for the families," Morris said.

Morris, 34, who pleaded guilty to three counts of reckless driving, must give up her driving privileges for five years, spend 26 weekends in jail and perform more than 1,000 hours of community service.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Gary Booker said the multiple count indictment filed against Morris was likely the first time in the nation's history that a prosecutor attempted to link a cell phone to a fatal accident.

Morris also was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter, but the charges were dismissed as a result of the plea.

It isn't against the law in Nevada to drive while talking on a cell phone, though Booker said if the case had gone to trial he would have shown that Morris was guilty of reckless driving. He said the cell phone prevented her from paying full-time attention to her driving.

Morris' tearful apology, which came during her sentencing hearing, was delivered to the families of Greif and Nathans.

According to police, Morris was talking on a cell phone March 25 when she ran two red lights at 65 mph in a 45 mph zone and struck the vehicle in which Greif and Nathans were riding.

By entering the plea agreement, Morris avoided a potential maximum sentence of 18 years in prison.

After the hearing, Morris' attorney, John Lukens, said Morris pleaded guilty to avoid causing the victims' families additional pain.

Morris said she was speaking to her fiance at the time of the accident, though she cannot recall whether she was using a hands-free unit or was holding the cell phone, Lukens said.

The Nevada Highway Patrol and the district attorney's office turned the Morris case into a "cause celebre" in an attempt to garner support for a legislative ban on cell phone use, Lukens said.

"This case had absolutely little to do with cell phones," Lukens said. "There are more people involved in accidents while eating McDonald's hamburgers than talking on cell phones."

A county ordinance requiring cell phone users to use hands-free units, proposed in October by Clark County Commissioner Erin Kenny, received only one vote in November.

A legislative proposal in 1999 to ban cell phones didn't make it out of committee because legislators couldn't find anyone to speak on behalf of the measure.