Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Judge rules report must be released

A North Las Vegas Justice of the Peace has ordered the release of a police report to the Las Vegas Sun that details police officers' reasons for arresting a man accused of killing his girlfriend's baby.

The Sun, through its attorney Kathleen Janssen, filed a motion to intervene during Wednesday's scheduled preliminary hearing for Wayne Jackson, 21. The preliminary hearing was postponed to Oct. 14, but Justice of the Peace Natalie Tyrrell did hear arguments on the disputed police report and ruled that it is open to the public.

"I do believe that the public has a right to know what is going on in government, and the main way they can do that is through the media," Tyrrell said. "Sometimes there is a vagueness in what is released causing the public to come to conclusions that wouldn't be reached if more accurate information was avaliable.

"The release of the arrest report is warranted."

Janssen said that she would argue that Tyrrell's order sets a precedent that arrest reports should routinely be released to the media. That is the case with other courts in the valley, but the media has been denied access to the reports by North Las Vegas judges.

The Sun also filed suit in another North Las Vegas case involving a woman charged with arson and attempted murder of her children. In that ongoing case North Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Stephen Dahl refused to release the arrest report.

"We may have to wait on a ruling from Judge Dahl in that case, but today's order was spelled out pretty clearly and certainly adds to our argument," said Janssen, who works with attorney Dominic Gentile.

In the Jackson case, the Sun had sought a 33-page police arrest report. On Wednesday Janssen argued that the documents are avaliable to the public under the First Amendment and that by releasing such reports attention can be focused on the investigative and judicial process to determine that they are being carried out fairly.

Clark County Deputy Public Defender Bob Amundson argued that he needs to investigate the case on his client's behalf and that releasing the police report to the media could impede his investigation and cost his client a fair trial.

"The police report is full of vague suspicions and conclusions by police officers that won't come before the court," Amundson said. "The press has no need of this information at this early stage. This would be nothing more than a premature disclosure to the press."

Amundson said he was concerned because there are names of possible witnesses in the report.

Tyrrell said that the process of voir dire would weed out any potential jurors that may read about the case in the Sun and be prejudiced by what they've read.

Jackson, 21, was arrested Aug. 21 following the Aug. 20 death of 15-month-old Quin'Tavion Wells. Jackson is charged with murder by child abuse.

Officer Tim Bedwell, North Las Vegas Police spokesman, said the cause of death was blunt trauma to the baby's head.

Officers were called to the house that Jackson shared with the mother of the child in the 3100 block of Plumwood Lane near Cheyenne Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard shortly before 8 p.m. on Aug. 20. A medical examiner determined the child's death was a homicide.

Jackson has prior convictions for attempted burglary and attempted possession of a stolen vehicle. He was wanted on an outstanding felony warrant for a probation violation at the time of his arrest, police said.

Prior to Tyrrell's order North Las Vegas police had refused to release further details about their reasons for arresting Jackson.

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