Witness in Gazlay case says he didn’t attack man

Friday, April 9, 2004 | 9:47 a.m.

A new witness has come forward in one of alleged 311 Boyz gang member Steven Gazlay's cases who can exonerate the 19-year-old, Gazlay's lawyer said Thursday.

Cheyenne High School senior Megan McCoy, 18, has filed a sworn affidavit that says Gazlay was not involved in the May 16 beating of Sean Quinn, 21.

Gazlay's defense attorney, Luis Palazzo, filed a motion Wednesday asking District Judge Valerie Adair to hold an immediate evidentiary hearing based on McCoy's affidavit in hopes of gaining a new trial for Gazlay.

Convicted of battery with use of a deadly weapon and assault with use of a deadly weapon in December, Gazlay was scheduled to be sentenced today at 10 a.m. Instead, Palazzo has asked the judge to rule on his motion.

"We need an evidentiary hearing to flesh these (issues) out before an innocent person is jailed for something he didn't do," Palazzo said.

McCoy said in her March 31 affidavit that she did not come forward earlier because of fear of retaliation, but decided to tell what happened because she did not want to see an "innocent person punished."

McCoy said she witnessed the fight while at a party at "the basin," an area in the desert near the Las Vegas Beltway and Centennial Parkway that was often the location of Friday night parties. About an hour after arriving, a boy known to McCoy as T.J. and reputed to be the leader of the 311 Boyz, hit her friend Wes Chandler in the head, she said in the affidavit.

Quinn helped Chandler to his feet and told T.J. to leave him alone. Quinn was then attacked by T.J. and several other people, McCoy said.

"I never saw Steven Gazlay participate in the fight at all," McCoy said, going on to say that she does not know Gazlay personally and has never associated with him on any level.

Palazzo said McCoy's affidavit is corroborated by Chandler and Quinn's original affidavits. When Quinn was at Mountain View Hospital immediately after the incident, he told police that the person who hit him had a shaved head, red shorts and a black tank top.

McCoy said Gazlay, who was at the basin that night, had spiked hair.

"Spiked hair is irreconcilable with shaved head," Palazzo said. "It brings the integrity of that verdict into question."

Palazzo's motion also includes several statements from teenagers who identify another teen who fits Quinn's description.

Gazlay still faces trial with eight other teens on 12 felony charges, including attempted murder, stemming from the attack that left 17-year-old Stephen Tanner Hansen with a crushed face.