Clark grand jury to hear Weber case

Kim Smith

Tuesday, May 14, 2002 | 10 a.m.

If an indictment is unsealed against double murder suspect Timmy Weber Wednesday, it will be handed down by a grand jury in Clark County.

Chief District Judge Mark Gibbons denied a defense motion Monday that would have forced prosecutors to present their case against Weber to another county's grand jury.

The judge also said Weber's attorneys will not be allowed to speak to grand jurors before they hear evidence in the case today.

A preliminary hearing had been for Wednesday set to weigh the evidence against Weber, but prosecutors have announced they will ask grand jurors to return an indictment before then.

Deputy Public Defenders Joseph Abood and Curtis Brown asked that the case be taken to a grand jury outside Clark County because of adverse publicity.

Weber is accused of murdering his girlfriend, Kim Gautier, 38, and her 15-year-old son, Anthony Gautier, on April 4. He is also charged with sexually assaulting Gautier's 14-year-old daughter over a five-year period, including the day of the slayings.

The 28-year-old Weber was arrested after spending more than three weeks hiding from police.

Brown said the grand jurors already have information from the media that they would not be given during a grand jury proceeding -- such as Weber's criminal history, the likelihood that prosecutors will seek the death penalty and personal opinions about Weber's psyche.

Brown cited a Sun article in which an expert spoke about Weber's psychological profile and one in which a police officer said of Weber, "I wouldn't call him dumb. I'd call him evil."

Deputy District Attorney Christopher Lalli said that if the defense attorneys believe, after having read grand jury transcripts, that Weber was unfairly indicted, they can file a writ of habeas corpus asking that charges be dismissed for lack of evidence.

Lalli pointed out that no case law exists to permit grand jury sessions to be moved or grand jurors to be questioned.

"The defense says that their motion is unusual," Lalli said. "I would submit it's not only unusual, it's unprecedented."

Weber is currently being held without bail in the Clark County Detention Center on 18 felony counts including murder, attempted murder and sexual assault of a minor.