Editorial: Let the court decide

Friday, Sept. 9, 2005 | 9:44 a.m.

A horrific scene unfolded the morning of March 14 near the intersection of Smoke Ranch Road and Rock Springs Drive in northwest Las Vegas. Three teenagers and a 36-year-old woman waiting at a bus stop were killed when an SUV driven by Veronica Schmidt left the road and struck them. Metro Police determined that Schmidt had the prescription drug Xanax in her system. But the investigation concluded that the anti-depressant drug had been legally prescribed and that the amount she had taken was at a "therapeutic" level. Clark County District Attorney David Roger concurred with police that no felony charges should be filed in District Court. Police then recommended to the Las Vegas city attorney's office that Schmidt be charged in Municipal Court with the misdemeanor offenses of speeding and failure to maintain the travel lane.

In reviewing the case, however, the city's medical expert concluded that the level of Xanax in Schmidt's bloodstream was far above a therapeutic level. In addition to the charges recommended by Metro, the city also filed misdemeanor charges against Schmidt of driving under the influence and reckless driving.

We believe it is only right that this case now includes a DUI charge and is heading to court. Rogers still believes there is not enough evidence to successfully prosecute Schmidt on the DUI charge. "It's going to be a battle of the experts in Municipal Court," he said.

Ideally, in our view, the experts would be battling before a jury in District Court. But experts battling before a Municipal Court judge is better than no court involvement at all. A courtroom, not the office of a district attorney or police investigator, is the best place to air testimony and decide guilt or innocence in cases such as this.