Man pleads not guilty in beating

Thursday, July 15, 2004 | 9:35 a.m.

A 20-year-old Las Vegas man pleaded not guilty Wednesday in Justice Court on charges of severely beating another man whom he found sleeping in his car on West Boston Avenue last month.

Las Vegas Justice of the Peace James Bixler scheduled a preliminary hearing July 28 for Jose Marbo, who Metro Police say confessed Saturday to beating and kicking Willborne Trammel on June 7. The beating left Trammel on life support at University Medical Center with a subdural hematoma, a leftside facial fracture and a left eye hemorrhage.

Trammel has since been taken off life support and was listed in fair condition at UMC on Wednesday.

Deputy Public Defender Bita Khamsi was appointed by Bixler to defend Marbo, who remains in custody on $10,000 bail.

Marbo allegedly told police he became angry when he found Trammel sleeping in his 1986 black Isuzu, parked on the 200 block of West Boston Avenue, around midnight and confronted him. According to the arrest report, Marbo said he retaliated after Trammel spat on him by punching and then kicking Trammel in the head and face once he was on the ground.

Trammel was later found, unconscious, in a garbage dumpster in an alley near where the beating took place and was transported to UMC. A neighbor who was taking out his trash found Trammel and called the police.

Marbo told police that night that he had problems with a male who had been sleeping in his vehicle from time to time.

Police said they arrested Marbo Saturday for felony battery with substantial bodily harm after he willingly confessed to the beating.