Too many mistakes

Monday, March 20, 2006 | 7:09 a.m.

CARSON CITY - The Nevada Supreme Court wants lower-court judges to shape up and to stop making senseless mistakes in their written orders.

The court, in a decision issued Thursday on a Las Vegas child sexual assault case, said there are an increasing number of clerical errors being made by District Court judges, which are leading to a "waste of judicial resources."

The errors "appear to be the result of nothing more than inattentive drafting that could be easily avoided by a more careful review of the document," Justice Bill Maupin wrote in the majority opinion.

Using a case involving conflicting written and oral judgments made by District Judge John McGroarty to make a broader point, the court called on judges to ensure that written judgments are accurate and said a judge's signature on an order is required to ensure that.

"Yet written judgments containing errors are being presented to this court with increasing frequency," the court noted. "These clerical errors often concern basic, but vital information, such as whether a defendant was convicted pursuant to a jury verdict or a guilty plea."

The court noted that in the case of John Ledbetter, who was convicted in 2003 of sexually abusing a girl over the course of a decade, there were major differences between what McGroarty said in court and his order.

The court said McGroarty sentenced Ledbetter to life in prison with the possibility of parole in five years for each of the 26 sexual assault counts in his written judgment. The sentences were to run concurrently. But in his oral ruling, McGroarty gave Ledbetter 26 life sentences with the possibility of parole in 20 years for each of the counts. He said two of those terms were to be consecutive.

"The sentence within the written judgment not only differs substantially from the oral pronouncement of Ledbetter's sentence, but it is incorrect as a matter of law," Maupin wrote.

The law on sentencing has been changed several times since Ledbetter began abusing the girl.

"Depending upon the dates of the offenses, the resulting bodily harm, and the age of the victim, that statute has provided for various terms of imprisonment," the court ruled.

None, however, allowed for a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole after five years.

The court also noted that in his written decision, McGroarty said Ledbetter pleaded guilty. The court said a jury convicted Ledbetter.

The court sent the case back to McGroarty to correct the sentence.

"Such errors needlessly inject uncertainty into criminal proceedings, and their correction constitutes a waste of judicial resources," said the court.