Gazlay guilty in 311 Boyz case

Erica D. Johnson

Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2003 | 11:06 a.m.

Prosecutors scored their first conviction Monday in a string of cases involving the 311 Boyz.

Jurors convicted 19-year-old Steven Gazlay of battery with a deadly weapon and assault with a deadly weapon stemming from a crowbar attack on two young men last summer.

Jurors declined to add a substantial bodily harm enhancement to the battery charge, however.

Gazlay faces a sentence of two to 15 years in prison when he is sentenced by District Judge Valerie Adair on Feb. 17. His lawyer, James "Bucky" Buchanan predicted that Gazlay will receive probation.

Gazlay, who had maintained his innocence throughout the trial, was silent Monday as the guilty verdict was read. His family members, which included his mother, Janette, and 15-year-old sister, Jennifer, sobbed openly.

Gazlay and his family refused to speak with reporters. Jurors also declined to speak to reporters.

Adair said Gazlay would remain out of custody on a $50,000 bond while he awaits sentencing. Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher Laurent had asked that the teen be remanded to custody.

Outside court, Buchanan said both he and Gazlay were surprised by the guilty verdict.

"I thought we'd win this case, but the jury didn't agree," he said.

Buchanan said he didn't believe Monday's conviction would set a precedent for Gazlay's upcoming trials.

"This is a minor setback," he said. "We still have a ways to go. He's a strong kid. He'll survive."

Gazlay and eight other teens face 12 felony charges, including attempted murder, stemming from an attack on Stephen Tanner Hansen, 17, with a rock. Gazlay also faces charges of allegedly burning a teen with a hot butter knife and destruction of private property.

Buchanan said he hopes to go to trial on the butter-knife case by next month.

Laurent said Gazlay's own testimony in his first trial could have sealed prosecutors' case against the teen.

Gazlay said he wasn't in the area when the teens were assaulted. He said the only thing he had in his possession that could have been mistaken for a weapon was a black flashlight he'd used to fix his truck.

Jurors apparently didn't buy Gazlay's story, Laurent said.

"His inability to answer questions cast off the veneer he'd tried to cast on himself as this innocent person. The jury was able to see through that," Laurent said.

Laurent also is prosecuting the other cases involving the 311 Boyz, whom authorities believe are responsible for a string of assaults in northwest Las Vegas last summer.

"This certainly lets them know that we will not tolerate (their behavior)," Laurent said.

Buchanan said he regretted letting the jury foreman remain on the jury that convicted Gazlay. That juror acknowledged during jury selection that he was familiar with the cases involving the 311 Boyz, Buchanan said.

"It was a mistake and now I have to pay for it," he said.

Prosecutors had argued that Gazlay attacked Sean Quinn, 21, at a desert area known as "the basin" near the Las Vegas Beltway and Centennial Parkway, where nearly 200 teens had gathered.

Gazlay was also convicted of lunging at Quinn's friend, James Sarlo, with the weapon when he jumped in to help. Both Quinn and Sarlo identified Gazlay as their attacker.

But Buchanan had maintained that a melee had broken out and violent fights had occurred between multiple partygoers. He said there was no way to ensure that Gazlay was the person who caused the damage.

During the trial before Vega, more than two dozen witnesses, most of them teenagers, testified for the state and the defense.

Laurent said many teens who either witnessed or were victims of the crowbar attack were initially hesitant to come forward, which is not uncommon in cases involving gang violence.

"(The verdict) may give other witnesses comfort to know that they can come forward, tell their story and the jury is going to believe them," he said.

"In this case the witnesses came forward and they were very courageous. I think they did a great job."