More charges could be file against teens

Erica D. Johnson

Monday, Sept. 8, 2003 | 9:21 a.m.

Prosecutors could be planning to file more charges against a group of teenage boys authorities say attacked three other teens with rocks and videotaped more violent acts in northwest Las Vegas neighborhoods.

Brian Fisher, an attorney who represents Dominic Harriman, 19, one of nine teens charged in the melee, said he received a notice from prosecutors last Thursday indicating that additional charges could potentially be filed against the teens.

Police say the teens are members of a gang called the 311 Boyz, who are responsible for the July attack on 17-year-old Tanner Hansen and his two friends in a gated community in Summerlin.

Hansen sustained serious injuries when a rock was thrown through the window of the truck he was riding in and crushed the left side of his face. He has undergone several reconstructive surgeries.

A grand jury last week indicted Harriman and eight others on 13 felony counts stemming from the incident, including attempt murder, battery and coercion, all with a deadly weapon.

But the Marcum notice, as it is called, announced that prosecutors may file a superseding indictment, which would replace the initial charging document.

Though the notice did not specify how a new indictment would differ from the first one, Fisher said he expects more charges will be filed.

"Generally the superseding indictment has more charges," he said. "It's a pretty safe bet that there will be more charges filed."

Defense attorney Sean Sullivan, who represents 17-year-old Jeff Hart, said he received the notice by fax Friday.

He said it was too soon to tell what steps prosecutors plan to take in the case but like Fisher, Sullivan believes more charges will come.

"It's my understanding they are considering additional charges," he said. "We've been informed of that."

Clark County prosecutor Christopher Laurent would not confirm whether more charges against the teens were in the works, noting that "grand jury proceedings are secret."

"It's possible," he said. "It could be that we're adding charges, amending charges, adding enhancements. Or it could mean nothing at all."

The Marcum notice allows defense attorneys to have their client testify before the grand jury. That does not mean that a second grand jury session is planned to review the case of the 311 Boyz, Laurent said.

He added that the notice could have also been filed to reserve the right for prosecutors to go to the grand jury at a later date if more evidence is discovered in the future.

"It doesn't mean we're necessarily going to grand jury, it just means that if we decide to, (the defendants) have received notice," he said.

Harriman, Hart, Ernest Bradley Aguilar, 17; Steven Gazlay, 18; 16-year-old twins Anthony and Brandon Gallion; Mathew Costello, 17; Christopher Farley, 18; and Scott Morse, 18 will appear in District Court on Sept. 10.

Prosecutors say the teens tried to prevent Hansen and his friends, Joe Grill and Craig Lefevre, from leaving a party in the Canyon Ridge gated community and then pummeled the trio's truck with rocks and beer bottles.

Police say the teens were targeted because they weren't members of the gang.

Some defense attorneys believe prosecutors could be planning to add a gang enhancement to the initial charges, which would automatically double the penalty if the teens were convicted.

James "Bucky" Buchanan, whose client, Gazlay, was referred to as the instigator of the melee by several eyewitnesses, said prosecutors would have to dig up more evidence against the teens before filing that enhancement.

"Before they can file a gang enhancement, they have to find criminal activity of this 311 gang prior to this incident," he said. "To our knowledge, there is none right now."

Buchanan said prosecutors are more likely investigating whether the teens are linked to other crimes in northwest neighborhoods.

Police in Metro's Gang Unit say the teens videotaped themselves as they instigated random beatings in the area around Centennial High School during the summer months.

Those cases have not yet been handed over to the district attorney's office, police said.

"It looks like they're trying to investigate other crimes," Buchanan said. "Those are different events that have nothing to do with this."

Nevada law requires that defendants have the right to testify at grand jury proceedings, Laurent said. Prosecutors are required to give defendants reasonable notice, which has been defined by the courts as at least five days, before taking a case to a grand jury.

Laurent said defense attorneys were given the same Marcum notice when the grand jury that indicted the teens initially met on the case.

According to grand jury transcripts obtained by the Sun last week, the teens charged did not testify at the proceeding. Laurent said most defendants choose not to testify.

Targets of grand jury proceedings usually don't testify voluntarily, he said.

Buchanan said he did not receive the Marcum notice for the initial grand jury proceeding within the five days required by law.

"The notice allows you to present a defense and give your side of the story," he said. "You can't do that if you don't have adequate notice."