Killer wants out of deal

Kim Smith

Friday, Nov. 8, 2002 | 9:51 a.m.

A Las Vegas man who avoided the death penalty by pleading guilty to killing an elderly woman after a jury had already convicted him now wants to back out of his plea agreement.

Brett Jones told District Judge Valorie Vega on Thursday that he wants to take his chances with a jury.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Robert Daskas said that if Jones is allowed to withdraw his plea, the jury's verdict would stand and a sentencing phase would go forward.

"For us it's a no-lose situation. Either the motion will be denied and he will be sentenced to consecutive no-parole life sentences or it will be granted and we'll go forward and seek the death penalty," Daskas said.

Daskas said that in order for the motion to be granted, Jones will have to prove his trial attorneys coerced him to sign the plea agreement.

The fact is, Jones entered the deal after being given more than two hours to discuss the plea agreement with his family, Daskas said. Moreover, Vega questioned him extensively to ensure he entered the deal willingly.

The special public defender's office was appointed to represent Jones on the issue Thursday, thus replacing the public defender's office, which represented him during the trial.

Deputy Public Defender Will Ewing could not be reached for comment.

Jones was convicted in September of first-degree murder and robbery of a victim over 65 in the death of Shirley Rogers, a widow and mother of six.

Rogers, 67, was beaten and strangled on Sept. 22, 2001, just weeks after she rescued Jones from a homeless shelter.

In exchange for the use of her truck and a room, Jones agreed to provide menial labor for Rogers when he wasn't working construction.

Jones, a Colorado native, was on probation for robbery at the time and prosecutors alleged Jones killed Rogers when she decided to kick him out.

Without a place to live, a vehicle or a job, Jones feared he would be put in prison for violating his probation, the prosecutors alleged.

Jones' attorneys argued he didn't intend to kill Rogers, but simply "snapped." They had hoped for a second-degree murder conviction.

Just as jurors were to begin hearing testimony in the sentencing phase of the trial, Jones entered the plea agreement to save his life.

Under the agreement, Jones was to get two no-parole life sentences and Vega was to decide if Jones should serve his robbery sentence of four to 30 years at the same time or consecutively.