A judge on Thursday ordered the release of a Las Vegas defendant whose case involved debate about whether his lack of ankles stymied his release onto house arrest.
Steven Min, 51, a prolific defendant with at least 196 cases in Las Vegas Justice Court since 2008, was serving time in jail for trespassing. His left hand and legs were amputated years ago as a result of sepsis contracted while in city jail custody, according to defense attorney Joseph Reiff.
Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Rebecca Saxe said that Min had 22 days left on a 180-day sentence in the case before her.
She decided to close the case and sentence him to credit for time served because of his medical problems and the amount of time he had already been in custody.
”You’ll be released today on this case, sir,” she told him, adding that she would try to expedite his release. Min appeared before her in jail custody without the prosthetic legs he normally uses.
Apparently not hearing the judge, Min — who requires dialysis four times a week — responded by asking her to expedite his release so he could go to the hospital.
“I just said I’m going to expedite it, Mr. Min,” said Saxe, raising her voice.
Reiff previously said the Clark County Detention Center deemed Min unqualified for house arrest because of “a physical inability to wear a mandatory electronic ankle monitor.”
Michael Dickerson, an attorney for the Metropolitan Police Department, which runs the jail and house arrest program, said police did not withhold house arrest because of his disability, but because of one or more active warrants and confusion due to his multiple cases.
“Our program uses an ankle monitor for its GPS tracking,” Metro staff wrote in a March 3 email. “This is the only authorized and available equipment for Electronic Monitoring and GPS tracking. Unfortunately, Mr. Min does not have the capability for our Officers to apply our device.”
Min appeared in court last week with an electronic monitoring bracelet apparently meant for an ankle strapped to his wrist. By Thursday evening, he was back in jail after police said he was found to be “in violation of the conditions of his electronic monitoring program.”
Saxe said her staff reached out to Metro to learn why he had been rearrested and learned that he had an issue with the bracelet, probably because it was meant for an ankle, and that police had reached out to their vendor to try to find an alternative.
Most of Min’s Justice Court cases have involved a trespassing charge. In many, he has not been convicted. Min said in an interview last week that all of his trespassing cases stem from casinos.
Min suffers from end-stage renal disease, according to his attorney. Min has said he also has end-stage kidney disease.
Reiff argued Wednesday that his medical problems gave the case a sense of urgency.
“I’m not going to let him die while I sit here and do nothing,” he said.
“I’m suffering badly right now,” Min told the judge.
Reiff said after court Thursday that he did not believe Min would be held on any other cases.
“He’s a free man,” the lawyer said.
Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com.
