Turnabout puts DA in hot seat in possible hit man conflict

By Abigail Goldman

Wednesday, July 2, 2008 | 2 a.m.

David Roger sat solemn in a suit and a tie, hands folded before him, head pitched forward, waiting to play ball. Here he is, the district attorney of Clark County, and he’s sitting on the stand, getting grilled instead of doing the grilling.

For the attorney who called him to the stand, Christina DiEdoardo, it was gravy.

“I think I got every defense attorney’s fantasy today,” she said Monday afternoon.

For Roger, it had to be at least a little annoying. In his six years as the district attorney, he has been in the witness box only four or five times, by his count, but this one was probably the weirdest.

Basically, the allegation is that Daimon Monroe — aka Daimon Hoyt — tried to put a hit out on one of Roger’s prosecutors, Sandra DiGiacomo — and Judge Michelle Leavitt and a Metro detective. The alleged goal was to get them all killed for the cost of a midrange Audi — $30,000.

So the question DiEdoardo called the district attorney down to ask was this: Shouldn’t your people recuse themselves from this case? If someone takes a hit out on one of your co-workers, doesn’t that kind of bias the office against them unfairly?

The answer, Judge Douglas Herndon decided, was no. Not unfair. No need to call in the special prosecutor. So, DiEdoardo didn’t win her argument. She did have a little fun losing, though. Not only did she call Roger to the stand, she also called Assistant District Attorney Christopher Lalli to testify.

While Roger was his consummate self on the stand — poker face, never giving up much — Lalli was a little looser; namely, he frowned a few times. This is because recusals are complicated.

See, DiGiacomo, the deputy district attorney whom Monroe allegedly tried to have killed, is still prosecuting Monroe on charges that he was part of a theft ring that stole about $2 million worth of goods. So DiGiacomo can have no part of the murder-for-hire case against Monroe — that would be a conflict of interest.

But what if Monroe wants to cop a plea and tie both cases together? Can DiGiacomo be part of the negotiations? The answer was more complicated than the question, so you’ll have to settle for “kind of.” She might be able to negotiate through a surrogate, for example.

What Roger’s six minutes on the stand made clear is this: The district attorney’s office will remove itself from a case when a friend, a family member or one of its prosecutors is charged with a crime. Otherwise, Roger explained, the public might assume the accused got a good deal. But, when the person in question is a victim, well, then the office doesn’t back down. After all, Deputy District Attorney Noreen Nyikos explained, the worst that could happen is that prosecutors would be motivated to do too good a job.

DiEdoardo countered with, “Sometimes doing justice is not winning, and sometimes the just thing is to remove yourself from the case.” This argument did not go very far. Nobody seems worried Monroe might get punished too harshly.

When Roger got off the stand, he walked out of the courtroom and off to some other important matters. When Lalli was done, he also slipped out, but paused to describe what it’s like being on the other side of the witness stand.

The answer: “A little nerve-racking.”