Father wants out of deal on neglect charges

Tuesday, April 27, 2004 | 9:41 a.m.

District Judge Donald Mosley denied a Henderson father's request to withdraw his guilty plea in the death of his 18-month-old daughter and the neglect of his four other children Monday.

Demone Tisdale, 21, told the judge he was pressured to plead guilty by Deputy Public Defender Robert Amundson.

"From the first the PDs (public defenders) I had were using scare tactics to make me take a deal," Tisdale, now represented by private attorney Pete Christiansen, said in court.

Tisdale said Amundson told him that, as an ex-felon, he would likely receive life in prison if a jury convicted him of the murder and child abuse and neglect charges.

Tisdale pleaded guilty in January to second-degree murder for the death of his infant daughter, Sierra Tisdale, along with one count of felony child abuse and neglect and three gross misdemeanor counts of child abuse and neglect.

In that hearing Tisdale said he was unaware of the conditions in which his children were living because he was rarely there. Tisdale said Sophia Mendoza, 20, his live-in girlfriend and the children's mother, was the primary caretaker.

An autopsy report shows that Sierra Tisdale had died of malnutrition and dehydration about three days before her body was discovered in the bedroom of the couple's home on Oct. 1, 2002. All four other children also showed signs of severe neglect.

In denying Tisdale's motion, Mosley said Amundson was right to inform Tisdale of all the possible consequences of the charges. He also said a defendant does not have to "unequivocally admit guilt" when entering a guilty plea agreement, but must enter the agreement knowingly and knowledgeably.

"I don't see where you are not knowledgeable," Mosley said.

Mosley is scheduled to sentence Tisdale on May 6. Tisdale faces a sentence of 10 to 25 years in prison or 10 years to life in prison for the second-degree murder charge. His plea agreement with prosecutors allows for all of the other counts to be sentenced concurrently.