State high court rejects Vegas woman’s appeal

Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2003 | 9:38 a.m.

SUN CAPITAL BUREAU

CARSON CITY -- An appeal from a Las Vegas woman convicted of killing her mother and cramming the body into a trash barrel was rejected Monday by the Nevada Supreme Court.

The high court ruled against Brookey Lee West, who was sentenced in 2001 to a no-parole life term in prison for killing Christine Smith, 64, in 1998 even though experts testified they couldn't determine a cause of death.

Smith's badly decomposed remains were found sealed in a barrel in a Las Vegas storage bin three years after her disappearance. A plastic bag was tied tightly around her mouth, but a Clark County District Court jury was told the body was so decomposed that the method and cause of death couldn't be determined.

West's public defender said Smith had medical problems and could have died from natural causes. But prosecutors denied Smith had medical problems that would lead to her death, and argued there was ample evidence to convict West of first-degree murder.

After Smith disappeared, prosecutors said West threw away her belongings and deposited and cashed Smith's Social Security checks. After the body was found, West admitted putting it in the garbage can.

Justices said the circumstances "clearly created a reasonable inference of Smith's death by criminal agency."

The high court also rejected West's argument that the trial judge erred in admitting photographs of the victim. Quoting from an earlier ruling, justices said "gruesome photos will be admitted if they aid in ascertaining the truth."

The photos showed the victim's head and were shown to aid jurors in understanding how the plastic bag was tied on Smith's head and what parts of her face the bag covered, the court added.