Man charged with killing son won’t represent himself in October retrial

Wednesday, June 1, 2005 | 9:08 a.m.

A man charged with killing his 2-year-old son in 1997 no longer has a puncher's chance to have his retrial delayed again and will not be allowed to represent himself, a judge ruled Tuesday.

District Judge John McGroarty said John Moxley would stand trial on Oct. 17 and has effectively run out of opportunities to delay his new trial in the death of Jonathan Moxley.

One of those opportunities, according to his former attorney, Paul Wommer, was an alleged attack on Wommer in the Clark County Detention Center just two days before an earlier trial date.

Wommer said over the last several months Moxley had unsuccessfully requested he be withdrawn as his attorney and believes that Moxley attacked him in a last ditch effort to have his trial date rescheduled.

Moxley had been sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole, but the Nevada Supreme Court ordered a new trial. The court said the evidence was undisputed that the child, Jonathan Moxley, died of shaken baby syndrome, but the justices ruled that an instruction given to the jury was wrong and ordered a new trial.

Moxley decided he would represent himself at the re-trial, but as is the custom, McGroarty appointed a standby attorney to assist him filing motions and addressing questions about the law.

With no grounds left to base a request for more time to prepare for trial Moxley allegedly jumped over an interview table in a room at the jail and beat Wommer, officials said. The attack left Wommer with bruises and cuts on his face and chest.

On Tuesday Moxley requested that his new attorney, Greg DeNue, withdraw from the case so Moxley could represent himself.

McGroarty denied the request, saying Moxley had previously been given an opportunity to defend himself, but on the eve of trial said he was unable to handle the burden and asked for the court to appoint an attorney to defend him. The move led to a new trial date for Moxley.

DeNue said he would be prepared to defend Moxley at his Oct. 17 trial. DeNue is his third attorney.