News briefs for June 6, 2003

Friday, June 6, 2003 | 9:27 a.m.

Deal prepared in roadway killing

The Henderson teen charged with killing a motorist in an alleged road rage incident is expected to plead guilty to lesser charges when he is arraigned in District Court.

Jeffrey Jefferson, 17, earlier this week waived his right to a preliminary hearing in Henderson Justice Court, saying he had entered into an agreement with prosecutors.

The deal would allow Jefferson to avoid a possible life sentence by pleading guilty to a single count of voluntary manslaughter with a weapon in the April 21 shooting death of 54-year-old William Shepherd, Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher Lalli said.

In exchange for to guilty plea, prosecutors will drop one count of open murder. Jefferson would face a two- to 20-year sentence.

Lalli declined to comment on the agreement until after Jefferson enters his plea. Jefferson is scheduled to be arraigned on June 16 before District Judge Donald Mosley.

Authorities initially believed Jefferson's passenger, Christopher Giblin, 18, also participated in the shooting, but later said an investigation cleared him.

Court upholds Berosini case fees

A federal appeals court has upheld an order requiring former Las Vegas performer Bobby Berosini and his wife to pay legal fees incurred by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an attorney for the animal rights group said Thursday.

The case now returns to District Court in Las Vegas, which will determine the amount of attorney's fees Berosini must pay, PETA attorney Philip Hirschkop said in a statement.

Currently, the fees total more than $250,000.

Berosini has already paid PETA more than $400,000 for those court costs.

Berosini performed with orangutans in the "Lido de Paris" show at the Stardust through the late 1980s.

Berosini claimed in a $3.1 million defamation judgment in 1990 that PETA members doctored and distributed a videotape of him striking one of his primates backstage.

The Nevada Supreme Court later reversed the jury decision, and District Judge Nancy Becker awarded legal fees to PETA.

Mother's alert leads to arrest of teens

A Nevada Highway Patrol trooper arrested two teenage boys Thursday morning on charges of possession of a stolen station wagon after one of the boys told his mother he and a friend planned to rob stores from Las Vegas to Baker, Calif.

The Highway Patrol's dispatch center received a call from a woman in Kern County, Calif., who was calling on behalf of a 15-year-old boy's mother. She said the boy stole his mother's 1991 white Ford station wagon about 4 a.m. and said he and his 16-year-old friend planned to commit robberies, Trooper Angie Wolff said.

About 10:30 a.m., Sgt. Mike Nihei spotted the car traveling south on Interstate 15, about three miles from the California border. Both teens were arrested and taken to the Clark County juvenile detention center.

Man to face trial in roommate's death

The Las Vegas man accused of killing his roommate and stuffing his body in a suitcase will face charges in District Court, a Las Vegas Justice of the Peace ruled on Thursday.

After a preliminary hearing, Justice of the Peace William Jansen decided there was enough evidence against Amado Rubio Gallego, 57, to send the case to District Court.

Gallego faces one count each of murder with use of a deadly weapon and robbery with use of a deadly weapon in the stabbing death of Julio Martinez.

Martinez's body was discovered inside a suitcase, which was left near a trash bin on April 18 near an apartment complex in the 1400 block of East Desert Inn Road.

Chief Deputy District Attorney David Schwartz said Martinez was stabbed "in excess of 20 times."

Prosecutors plan to take the case to the Death Penalty Review Committee to determine whether Gallego will face the death penalty, Schwartz said.

Gallego will be arraigned before District Judge Donald Mosley on June 19.

Cotton to leave child services post

Edward Cotton, administrator of the state Division of Child and Family Services since December 2001, is resigning to take a similar job in New Jersey.

The Nevada division has about 900 employees and the New Jersey Child and Family Services Division has 5,400. New Jersey's is a unified system as opposed to Nevada, where some of the responsibilities are divided between state and county.

In Nevada, Cotton, 54, has overseen the state detention centers, the licensing of child-care facilities and juvenile probation.

The division also has authority over Summit View Youth Correctional Center in North Las Vegas, which the state intends to reopen later this year. It has been closed since January 2002, when the private company that ran the operation pulled out.

Mike Willden, director of the state Human Resources Department, said no replacement has been named.