Videotape plays key role for DA in Palms shooting

Erica D. Johnson

Thursday, Dec. 4, 2003 | 9:46 a.m.

A Clark County prosecutor says an amateur videotape produced by a tourist could help secure the conviction of a Texas man on a first-degree murder charge.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Frank Coumou said a videotape recorded Nov. 14 depicts a dispute in the parking lot of the Palms hotel that resulted in the shooting death of Derrick Dwuan Nunley, 36.

A Clark County grand jury on Wednesday indicted 19-year-old Frederick Dixon of Houston on a first-degree murder charge with use of a deadly weapon in connection with the incident.

"The video speaks for itself in the state's opinion," Coumou said.

Coumou hoped the videotape would also convince District Judge Michael Douglas to raise Dixon's bail from the $25,000 set in Justice Court to $500,000.

But after viewing portions of the tape that aired on a local television news broadcast, Douglas said the recording was too shadowy to determine the exact series of events.

On the tape several men can be heard arguing and voices in the background heard yelling, "Don't do it, don't do it." The commotion is followed by the sound of at least four gunshots.

It was unclear whether Dixon was visible on the videotape, and the tape Douglas viewed did not show the entire incident.

"The picture is fuzzy. It's not clear as to the events that took place," Douglas said.

Still, Douglas said, the seriousness of the case could not be minimized. "There is an issue as to temperament in this matter," he said.

Douglas raised Dixon's bail to $100,000 and placed him on house arrest. Dixon is staying in Las Vegas with his girlfriend. He had already posted the $25,000 bail, which will be applied to the new bail. He has until Dec. 10 to post the remainder or surrender himself to authorities.

Dixon appeared in court with his girlfriend and several family members.

Coumou said the shooting resulted from an argument between two groups of men that began at Seven, a nightclub on Las Vegas Boulevard South.

Coumou said it appeared that Dixon and Nunley had settled the argument, but that tensions carried over to the Palms, where they got into another confrontation in the parking lot.

Coumou said Nunley "pulled out a box cutter and told the defendant and his friends to back off." Dixon retreated, Coumou said, and Nunley got into his Mercedes.

Dixon then went to his Cadillac Escalade, which was parked in a handicapped spot near the entrance of the hotel, and returned with a 9mm handgun, Coumou said.

"(Dixon) starts running up to the car where the victim is sitting," Coumou said. "He goes to the driver's side window and then opens fire."

When Nunley tried to crawl into the back seat of the car, Coumou said, Dixon opened fire again.

"It's disturbing," Coumou said.

But Dixon's attorney, John Momot, said the earlier altercation at Seven resulted in "a fistfight in which one individual was the aggressor against my client."

Momot said two carloads, about eight to 10 people, had followed Dixon to the hotel from the nightclub. Dixon and his two younger brothers tried to go into the hotel to get away from the men but were turned away by security guards, Momot said.

When Nunley began waving around the box-cutter, Momot said, Dixon went to his car and retrieved the weapon.

Momot said one of Dixon's brothers called police immediately following the shooting and that Dixon was cooperative with authorities.

"Mr. Dixon went right up to the officer and said, 'I shot that man,' " Momot said.

Coumou said Dixon initially told police he shot the man in self-defense but later said he didn't walk away from the confrontation because he "didn't want to look like a homosexual."

Momot argued that surveillance video from both the Palms and Seven would make clear the events that unfolded that night. He said the state still had not handed over the tapes, despite multiple requests.

"To date, I don't have those tapes and I wonder why," Momot said. "The key to this case is what occurred in this affray at the doors of the casino."

Justice of the Peace Karen Bennett Haron had set Dixon's bail at $25,000 and placed him on house arrest during an arraignment in Justice Court. She set the bail over objections from prosecutors, who had argued that Dixon was a threat to the community.

"It's a mockery that it was set so low," Coumou told Douglas on Wednesday. "There are people charged with nonviolent offenses (who get) a higher bail."

Though there are standard bails set for most charges, bail on more serious crimes such as murder and attempted murder must be set in court by a judge.