Alleged 311 Boyz member awaits jury’s verdict

Erica D. Johnson

Monday, Dec. 15, 2003 | 9:40 a.m.

Prosecutors on Friday told jurors that alleged 311 Boyz gang member Steven Gazlay had both the motive and opportunity to savagely beat a young man at a party last summer.

Jurors this morning resumed their deliberations about whether 19-year-old Gazlay is the person who attacked Sean Quinn with a crowbar or other metal object at the party in northwest Las Vegas. Quinn's jaw was broken in the attack.

Chief Deputy District Attorney James Sweetin said an enraged Gazlay beat Quinn, 21, because he thought Quinn had injured his 15-year-old sister.

Gazlay also is charged with lunging at Quinn's friend, James Sarlo, with the weapon when Sarlo jumped in to help.

"This whole case has its nexus in the defendant's rage that his sister was hurt," Sweetin said in his closing argument.

"The defendant was involved in this up to his eyeballs."

Prosecutors say the unprovoked attack came at a desert area known as "the basin" near the Las Vegas Beltway and Centennial Parkway, where nearly 200 teens had gathered.

At least four eyewitnesses said they saw Gazlay swing the weapon at Quinn. Several other witnesses said they saw Gazlay at the party with a crowbar in his hand.

"Who was the person running around saying, 'You hit my (expletive) sister?' " Sweetin asked jurors.

Gazlay had testified during the trial that those were his words at the party.

But defense attorney James "Bucky" Buchanan reminded jurors that a melee had broken out and violent fights had occurred between multiple partygoers.

There is no way to ensure that Gazlay was the person who attacked the teens and caused the damage, Buchanan said.

"Last night I should have had it tattooed on my forehead: reasonable doubt, reasonable doubt, reasonable doubt," Buchanan told the jurors Friday.

Buchanan implied that his client was being charged only because of his alleged connection to several high-profile cases associated with the 311 Boyz gang.

"The reason we're all here today is because of the publicity concerning Steven Gazlay."

On the stand Thursday, Gazlay denied ever hitting anyone with a crowbar or any other object.

He said someone told him that his sister had been hit in the head with a beer bottle and that he ran into a crowd of teenagers to rescue her. He said he put his sister in his truck and left the party.

Gazlay said the only thing he only had in his possession that could have been mistaken for a weapon was a black flashlight he'd used to fix his truck.

But Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher Laurent told jurors not to be fooled by the innocence the Gazlay claimed during his testimony.

He reminded them that Gazlay showed a hint of irritation when he was asked several questions during cross-examination.

"You saw what was underneath the carefully crafted demeanor on the stand," Laurent said. "You saw the smart-aleck remarks he wanted to make."

Prosecutors say Gazlay attacked Quinn moments after Quinn was kicked and punched by five to six other teens.

At least 15 state witnesses said they saw Gazlay walking toward the crowd with a metal object in hand. Several other witnesses said they saw Gazlay strike Quinn with the weapon and even kick Quinn.

Quinn also identified Gazlay as the person who hit him. Quinn and Sarlo picked Gazlay's picture out of a police lineup.

But Gazlay said he wasn't even in the area when Quinn was attacked. He said he had even broken up a fight between two other teens earlier in the night. He said he generally would watch people fight "for his own enjoyment" but that this fight "wasn't a good matchup."

"This is their entertainment. They want to watch someone get their (expletive) whooped," Laurent said Friday. "Does it ring true that Gazlay would have some miraculous change of heart?"

Buchanan pointed out that nearly a dozen defense witnesses said Gazlay did not commit the assault.

Buchanan maintains that Quinn's injuries came either from an attack by Adam "Taz" Henry, an alleged leader of the 311 Boyz gang, and Mark Herman or from an attack by the other teens who hit and kicked Quinn that night.

"How did (Quinn) get the bodily harm? By a hit, by a foot, by a rod? He doesn't know," Buchanan said.

Buchanan noted that Ashley DePaul, who testified for both the state and defense, said she helped Quinn to a friend's pickup truck when he was attacked by the group of teenagers and that she never saw Gazlay at that time.

"She never saw Steven Gazlay and she was right there," Buchanan said. "If you can't resolve these differences, there's reasonable doubt."

Gazlay also faces charges in three additional cases stemming from a rock attack on a 17-year-old boy, the burning of another teen with a hot butter knife and the destruction of private property.