Guard who fathered baby in prison, inmate indicted

Erica D. Johnson

Thursday, March 18, 2004 | 9:43 a.m.

A former guard at the state women's prison in North Las Vegas and the inmate whose baby he fathered were indicted by a Clark County grand jury on Wednesday.

The indictment, unsealed before District Judge Michael Douglas, charges former corrections officer Randy Easter and inmate Korinda Martin with two felony counts of voluntary sexual conduct between a prisoner and another person.

Easter, who appeared at the hearing with his attorney, Peter Christiansen, was booked into the Clark County Detention Center before being released on his own recognizance.

Martin is already in custody at the Northern Nevada Correctional Center in Carson City where she is serving a two- to 10-year sentence on a robbery charge. Her bail was set at $5,000 in the recent case.

The defendants face a sentence of one to four years in prison on each count.

Chief Deputy Attorney General Gerald Gardner said he could re-address the subject of bail for both defendants when they are arraigned April 1 before District Judge Donald Mosley.

He said he requested bail for Martin so that his office would be notified if she were released.

Gardner said the state law under which the pair will be prosecuted has been used before.

"It's not that rare," he said. "It's probably been charged about a dozen or so times."

Martin's attorney, Scott Olifant, said he had hoped the grand jury might not return an indictment. He said he would probably represent Martin in the criminal action.

Christiansen declined to comment on the case until after its conclusion.

Prosecutors took the case to the grand jury after Martin gave birth to a baby boy last month. DNA testing identified Easter as the father.