Judge rejects request to back out of guilty plea

Erica D. Johnson

Thursday, April 10, 2003 | 9:01 a.m.

A man who pleaded guilty to killing a Henderson teen five years ago lost his battle Wednesday to back out of his plea agreement.

Stephen Finnegan, 32, in December pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and kidnapping charges in the 1998 death of Jessica Heaney, a 16-year-old Silverado High School student.

The deal carried a prison sentence of six to 18 years, as opposed to a possible life sentence on the murder, kidnapping and sexual assault charges he initially faced.

Private defense attorney Christopher Oram tried to persuade District Judge Kathy Hardcastle to allow Finnegan to withdraw his guilty plea, citing a conflict of interest with one of Finnegan's previous attorneys.

Deputy Public Defender Drew Christensen, who initially represented Finnegan, withdrew from the case when a jailhouse informant, also represented by the public defender's office, was expected to testify in the trial as state witness.

Though the case was then taken over by the special public defender's office, Oram said, Christensen was in the room when Finnegan decided to enter his plea and he partook in advising Finnegan that the deal was in his best interest.

Finnegan, who now claims he was not guilty, also never signed a waiver saying he understood Christensen's conflict of interest, Oram said.

"He was advised by a public defender with a conflict of interest," he said. "Until that time, my client was ready, willing and able to go to trial."

But Chief Deputy District Attorney Doug Herndon argued that there was no conflict of interest when Finnegan withdrew his plea.

A conflict would have arisen only if the case had gone to trial and if the informant was called to testify, he said.

"There was only a potential conflict of interest," he said. "There was nothing to indicate that Mr. Christensen was the driving force behind the negotiations."

And courts often consider interests other than those of the defendant when deciding whether to toss out a guilty plea, Herndon said.

"This case is already five years old," he said. "The family has already gone through so much. It also has a lot to do with maintaining the integrity of the criminal justice system."

Hardcastle agreed with Herndon and denied Oram's motion, saying the conflict of interest did not exist.

She said Finnegan had acknowledged the plea was freely and voluntarily given and that he was given the opportunity to discuss any concerns with several attorneys.

Hardcastle set a sentencing date for April 23.

Finnegan's guilty plea came in December, after a pre-trial hearing in which witnesses detailed his alleged sexually deviant behavior and methamphetamine abuse.

The potential witness, a man who was incarcerated with Finnegan at the Clark County Detention Center, was prepared to testify that Finnegan had told him things about the killing, Herndon said.

"It wasn't a lengthy explicit confession, but it was an admission of guilt," Herndon said.

Oram said the witness has since recanted his allegations.

Herndon said defendants in criminal cases sign lengthy documents acknowledging the consequences of entering a plea.