Teen in DUI crash case makes deal

Erica D. Johnson and Emily Richmond

Friday, Feb. 20, 2004 | 11:38 a.m.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys have reached a deal that would require a 16-year-old Henderson teen charged with the drunken driving crash that killed his three friends to spend two years in the Clark County Juvenile Detention Center, according to sources familiar with the case.

The deal will require the teen to plead guilty to felony reckless driving and driving under the influence charges in juvenile court during a hearing Monday before Family Court Judge William Voy.

The proposed deal would end a case that prosecutors were pushing to try in adult court, where the teen, if convicted, could have faced a much harsher sentence.

The teen is charged in the Nov. 10 crash that killed 15-year-olds Josh Parry, Travis Dunning and Kyle Poff. Authorities say the driver had a blood alcohol level of 0.19 and was driving 85 mph in a 25 mph zone when he wrecked the car.

Josh Parry's mother, Tina, said she was outraged when she found out about the deal earlier this week. She said she plans to ask Voy to reject the deal. District Attorney David Roger refused to comment on the negotiations until after the court hearing on Monday. Deputy District Attorney Jonathan VanBoskerck, who is handling the case, also declined to comment this morning.

The teen's attorney, Andrew Leavitt, could not be reached for comment.

If convicted in the adult system, the teen would have faced two to 20 years for each of the three felony drunken driving counts and one to four years for each of the involuntary manslaughter counts.

As part of the deal, the teen will have to perform 600 hours of community service, most of which will be spent talking to local high school students about the dangers of drinking and driving, sources confirmed this morning.

After his release, the teen would be placed on formal probation until he is 21.

In previous hearings prosecutors had argued that the teen's case was so heinous that the case belonged in the adult system. They said the teen made a conscious decision to get behind the wheel while drunk and that the criminal justice system needed to make an example out of the teen. Voy was expected to make the final decision during Monday's hearing.

The case sparked community outrage, which was fueled, in part, by the formation of a group called "Moms on a Mission."

A circle of well-connected mothers founded the group to protest prosecutors' push to try the teen as an adult. The group's members include Monica Guinn, the daughter of Gov. Kenny Guinn, and Delise Sartini and Jill Fertitta, members of the family of gaming executives who run Station Casinos.

The women met with Roger and urged him not to push to have the teen's case transferred to the adult system. In the weeks that followed, the Henderson Home News ran a full page ad asking readers to lobby for the teen's case to remain in the juvenile system. The women said they do not know the teen or the teens who died in the crash.

After the meeting, Satrini said teens don't have the same decision-making skills or wisdom as adults and should be treated as juveniles. She said even though the teen made the decision to drink and drive, "there was no criminal intent."

Members of the group declined to comment on the deal this morning.

But Tina Parry said she hoped the lobbying done by "Moms on a Mission" didn't play a part in the decision to offer the teen driver a deal.

"I hope they didn't influence anybody," Parry said. "I think in their hearts (the mothers) thought they were doing the right thing, but they don't know what they're talking about."

Parry said the terms of the deal offered to the teen were inappropriate, considering the magnitude of the wreck. Two years isn't enough time, she said.

"He killed my son and two other kids," she said. "I wish personally he would get more so it would really send a message in this town that they're going to take drunk driving seriously."

The loss of Josh Parry is still fresh, his mother said. A few weeks ago the family received a copy of their son's scores on a standardized test given by the Clark County School District.

"He was in the 85th percentile nationally," Parry said. "That's what we lost, a very bright child, a good child with a lot to give this world. (The driver's) one stupid mistake took that all away."

Police were looking for Pierre Goujon, 19, who faces misdemeanor charges in connection with providing alcohol that the teen driver drank prior to the accident. It was unclear whether he had been arrested as of Friday morning.

Henderson jail records were not available because the computers were down, although a calltaker said paper records immediately available do not show his name as being entered since yesterday. Records at the city of Las Vegas jail for the last several days do not show Goujon's name. Online records for the Clark County Detention Center also do not show Goujon's name.

The warrant for Goujon's arrest alleges that he bought the alcohol at an East Flamingo Road convenience store using false identification, Henderson Police have said.

Sun reporter Sito Negron contributed to this story.