No report filed on object found in jury box

By Matt Pordum (contact)

Wednesday, May 4, 2005 | 8:45 a.m.

Court officials have yet to see an incident report about what appeared to be a used crack pipe that was found in a jury box Monday during a death penalty murder case.

Court Administrator Chuck Short said that District Judge Lee Gates told his bailiff on Tuesday "to focus on the trial and to write an incident report tomorrow afternoon."

It remains unclear what the find could mean in the case of Donte Johnson, who faces the possibility of the death penalty for the August 1998 murders of Tracey Gorringe, 20, Peter Talamantez, 17, and Matthew Mowen and Jeffrey Biddle, both 19.

If it is proven the pipe belonged to a juror, it might be grounds for a mistrial or it could be raised as an appellate issue by Johnson's lawyers.

Short couldn't say whether fingerprints would be taken or in what direction an investigation into the incident would go because no report had been filed.

Neither the prosecutors nor defense attorneys involved in the case will comment on the issue.

The report, if filed, would be issued some 48 hours after a juror first informed Gates' bailiff of the find. Several sources familiar with the incident, who asked to remain anonymous, said the juror found a broken glass pipe that was "charred and contained what appeared to be a white flaky substance."

Short said he doesn't have any authority over Gates' bailiff because the officer is a judicial bailiff who reports directly to Gates and is an at-will employee of the judge.

According to Nevada statutes, judicial bailiffs maintain order in the courtroom, oversee jurors, open and close courtrooms and "perform such other duties as may be required of him by the judge of the court."

Administrative bailiffs, who are responsible for providing security outside of the courtrooms of the Las Vegas Justice Courts, District Court and Family Court. They are overseen by court administrators.

Sources said that in a subsequent closed hearing outside of Gates' courtroom after the pipe was found on Monday, Gates' bailiff said all of the jurors in the case denied that the pipe belonged to them. The bailiff also said none of the jurors appeared to be impaired or under the influence of an illegal substance, sources close to the case said.

Sources said the judge toyed with the idea of questioning each juror individually about their knowledge of the glass pipe, but Gates has given no indication that such a hearing would be held.