Mix-up on drug level delays murder trial

Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2004 | 8:36 a.m.

A possible error in how levels of the illegal club drug GHB were recorded in the body of Richard Marotto put the roughly five-weeklong trial of the man accused of killing him at a standstill on Friday.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Vicki Monroe told District Judge John McGroarty it had come to her attention the levels of GHB found in Marotto were recorded in nanograms instead of micrograms. The error could ultimately mean Marotto had 10 times the amount of GHB in his system than originally reported.

Monroe said if Marotto's GHB levels were properly measured in micrograms, instead of nanograms, Marotto, 40, would have been unconscious when he was slain in December 2001.

Special Public Defender Bret Whipple has said that Wolff reacted violently when he awoke at Marotto's home, high on the club drug GHB, and discovered that Marotto was raping him.

If the GHB levels mistake is confirmed, Marotto would have been passed out and physically incapable of raping Wolff, Monroe said.

"If the level is higher and nanograms should have been micrograms, he (Marotto) would have been unconscious and there would have been no struggle," Monroe said.

Prosecutors allege that after a night of partying, Wolff went home with Marotto, killed him and then stole a variety of items from Marotto's house and pawned Marotto's jewelry at four different pawn shops in Las Vegas.

Monroe said a doctor at Quest Diagnostics Inc., which was formerly American Medical Laboratories Inc, informed the district attorney's office of the error only minutes earlier.

Monroe said how the exact nature of the error and how it happened had not yet been confirmed. She did say it was her understanding in 2001 that GHB levels were measured in micrograms, not nanograms, as had been recorded.

Both Monroe and Whipple said they weren't sure how this would affect the future of the trial.

Whipple said he hoped the "jury which has been focused and patient for almost five weeks would stick with the case."

Prior to the evidence shakeup, McGroarty ruled if Wolff decides to testify prosecutors would be able to ask him if his testimony concerning the night of Marotto's death was recalled in part by sessions of hypnosis and how many sessions he underwent.

Under Nevada law McGroarty will be required to instruct the jury "to exercise caution when considering the reliability of the testimony of a person who previously has undergone hypnosis to recall events that are the subject matter of the testimony."

Prosecutors had argued that the hypnosis sessions Wolff underwent with certified hypnotherapist Lane Keck failed to meet the standards set by Nevada law for allowing hypnosis-based testimony into a trial.

Whipple successfully argued that Wolff's constitutional right to testify in his defense trumped Nevada law.