Plea deal made in fatal shooting

By Matt Pordum (contact)

Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2004 | 9:36 a.m.

A 19-year-old Las Vegas man originally scheduled to go to trial Monday on a charge of murder in the death of 22-year-old Lennell Bell of Las Vegas pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter with use of a deadly weapon.

Deputy District Attorney Martin Hart said he would seek the maximum sentence of eight to 20 years in prison for Brandon Jamar Olds at his Oct. 5 sentencing before District Judge Donald Mosley.

Although Hart and Deputy Public Defender Scott Coffee were able to agree on the negotiated plea, they don't agree on exactly what led up to the killing.

Hart said Olds was visiting an upstairs neighbor in an apartment complex in the 3900 block of Algonquinn Drive on May 19 when Bell came in and began arguing with him over money Bell had loaned Olds' neighbor, Chin-Na Boyd.

Coffee said Olds was visiting the neighbor to loan Boyd a library book when Bell came to the apartment.

Coffee said the argument erupted not just because of the $100 that Bell had lent Boyd for rent, but also because Bell had allegedly attempted to recruit Boyd's 12-year-old female cousin into prostitution.

Coffee said Olds knew Bell as a pimp who went by the name of "Doc" and had heard stories of him beating up his prostitutes.

Hart said Bell decided to take a stereo from the apartment saying he'd hold it until he got his $100 from Boyd, but was locked out of the apartment before he could take the stereo.

Coffee contends Bell grabbed the stereo and jumped off the apartment's second floor balcony.

Although people tried to calm Bell down, Hart said, Bell came back up the stairs and kicked Boyd's front door down.

Coffee said Olds didn't get involved until Bell kicked the door down. He said Olds pulled out a gun and held it to his side as he "escorted" Bell out of the apartment.

As Bell walked out he stopped and told Olds he had a gun, and then he spun around, and it was at that point that Olds fired four to five shots at Bell.

"The whole case came down to whether this was self-defense, and I think it was," Coffee said.

But Bell was unarmed during the argument, so it would not have made sense for him to tell an armed man that he had a gun, Hart said.

Coffee said if the case would have been one where Olds acted in "the heat of passion," it might have been a case of manslaughter, but because Olds never "acted out of anger" it made more sense to pursue the plea agreement.

Coffee said without being able to present the jury with the possibility of manslaughter, Olds either had to hope for a not guilty verdict or the possibility of a conviction for first- or second-degree murder.

Under state law manslaughter "must be voluntary, upon a sudden heat of passion, caused by a provocation apparently sufficient to make the passion irresistible, or involuntary, in the commission of an unlawful act, or a lawful act without due caution or circumspection."

Coffee said probation would be suitable for Olds.

"This is one of the few cases where someone shoots and kills someone where probation could be a viable option," Coffee said.

Olds' only prior criminal charge was for domestic violence battery, a charge that his then-girlfriend has since said "was blown out of proportion," Coffee said.