Editorial: A sickening plea bargain

Friday, April 22, 2005 | 9:22 a.m.

It was nearly two years ago when a BMW driven by Robert Rink, who the Nevada Highway Patrol said was speeding southbound at 97 mph on the Las Vegas Beltway near Charleston Boulevard, veered off the road. As Rink lost control of his car, it ran over a median covered by fist-sized rocks, which were sent flying everywhere. At the same time Michelle Rogers was driving northbound on the beltway, across the median from Rink. One of the rocks flew through the windshield of the Volkswagen Passat that Rogers was driving. The rock struck the 31-year-old woman in the head -- and she died of her injuries several days later. Immediately after the accident other drivers stopped to provide assistance to Rogers, the mother of a 7-year-old boy. But not Rink -- the then-32-year-old real estate agent left the scene without stopping.

Witnesses said Rink was seen a short time later, along with an unidentified person, taking boxes out of his car. Rink's BMW subsequently was found burned in a parking lot. A bottle, containing gasoline, was found inside the car. To its credit, a Clark County grand jury indicted Rink in 2003, charging him with reckless driving, involuntary manslaughter, leaving the scene of an accident and destroying evidence. Rink faced 2 to 15 years for leaving the scene, 1 to 6 years for reckless driving and 1 to 4 years for involuntary manslaughter. The lightest of the charges, destroying evidence, is a gross misdemeanor and carries a maximum of 1 year in jail. It seemed as if reckless driving -- especially that which maims or kills -- was being taken seriously in a city where it too often is treated lightly.

Well, as we found out a week ago, that was only so much wishful thinking. Clark County prosecutors told District Judge Michelle Leavitt that they had agreed to a plea agreement with Rink, allowing him to enter a conditional guilty plea to a single count of involuntary manslaughter. Chief Deputy District Attorney L.J. O'Neale said he wouldn't oppose Leavitt sentencing Rink to probation. So why the sudden change of heart by prosecutors? O'Neale said that a new estimate by Rink's legal defense team -- testing undertaken by a former police detective -- put his speed at the time of the accident between 69 to 71 mph, not 97 mph as previously determined. According to O'Neale, the lower estimate for how fast Rink was traveling was the main reason for the deal that resulted in the more serious charges being dropped.

What's mysterious -- and outrageous -- is that O'Neale simply accepted the defense team's version and never bothered to check with the Nevada Highway Patrol, which still stands by its estimate of how fast Rink was driving. Why would a prosecutor simply accept the analysis of a hired gun for the defense team and not even bother to check to see if such an analysis could withstand scrutiny by seasoned crime scene investigators such as those at the Nevada Highway Patrol? It just doesn't make any sense. Rather than accept Rink's plea deal, the judge should reject the offer and let this go to trial. Realistically, not every case can go to trial -- plea bargains are part of our criminal justice system. But this is a situation where a jury should decide whether there is enough evidence to convict the defendant or find him not guilty. A trial, not a plea bargain, w ould be justice.