News briefs for January 10, 2005

Monday, Jan. 10, 2005 | 9:30 a.m.

New trial denied in fight fixing

A boxer and promoter found guilty of fixing an August 2000 fight at Paris Las Vegas will not get a new trial.

U.S. District Judge James Mahan denied a motion Friday by defense attorneys seeking a new trial on the grounds that the jury was allowed to hear evidence that should have been withheld.

Attorneys for boxer Thomas Williams and promoter Robert Mitchell said that information about Williams taking a dive in a fight in Denmark prior to his August 2000 fight in Las Vegas against Richard Melito Jr. should not have been allowed at trial.

Mahan disagreed and pointed to a jury instruction he read at trial that informed the jury that Williams and Mitchell were only being charged with throwing the Las Vegas fight and not the fight in Denmark.

Williams and Mitchell were both found guilty of conspiracy and sports bribery, and each face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine when sentenced later this year.

Fireplace sparks fire in home

A fire in a fireplace spread to a home's interior in western Las Vegas Sunday, but two women inside the home escaped without injury.

A cat and a 19-year-old small dog that is deaf and blind were rescued by firefighters.

Las Vegas Fire & Rescue investigators said the blaze was accidental, fire department spokesman Tim Szymanski said.

Damage was estimated at $40,000 and the American Red Cross assisted both women with temporary shelter.

When firefighters arrived at the home on the 500 block of Mallard Street near Alta Drive and Jones Boulevard, they found a room with a freestanding metal fireplace and surrounding furniture in flames.

The women said they had loaded the fireplace with some wood and lit a fire. The metal got red hot and smoke started to come from the wall behind the fireplace. The women threw water on the logs in the fireplace, but the metal continued to glow red and they saw flames underneath the fireplace.

Motorists injured in head-on crash

A motorist was in critical condition this morning at University Medical Center after a head-on collision on Desert Inn Road east of Durango Drive.

Around 11 a.m., 73-year-old Kazuko Fruehan was westbound on Desert Inn Road in a 1992 Saturn but drifted across the center two-way turn lane and into the eastbound lane.

Fruehan's sedan collided head-on with a 1991 Nissan Sentra driven by 26-year-old Rogelio Lopez, who was eastbound on Desert Inn.

Fruehan was in critical condition this morning at UMC. Lopez was admitted in critical condition but was upgraded to fair by this morning, said Cheryl Persinger, a UMC spokeswoman, said.