A Clark County public defender said the recent closure of his office has hampered his efforts to prepare for a death penalty trial set for this fall.
Deputy Public Defender Tyler Gaston said he expects to take two capital murder cases to a jury in the coming months. But after officials closed his office at 309 S. Third Street over potentially cancer-causing contamination, he asked District Judge Jacqueline Bluth to postpone one of them.
Gaston also cited a scheduling conflict, in an effort to push the murder trial of Chad Newman to April 2027. Gaston said he’s representing another defendant facing the death penalty at a trial expected to start in September.
He added that the recent office evacuation has made basic case preparation virtually impossible, compounding the challenge.
“It’s inviting unnecessary error,” Gaston said. “And more importantly, more than just worrying about how the appellate record looks, it’s not fair to Newman, who’s facing the death penalty.”
Last week, Bluth declined to postpone Newman’s Oct. 5 trial date, noting that the case is among the oldest on her docket.
“Justice delayed is justice denied,” Bluth said during a phone interview on Thursday. “I am sympathetic, but they’ve got to figure a way to get work done. I cannot have defendants sitting in jail for six or seven years. I need everyone to work together”
But Newman is due back in front of Bluth later this month, when attorneys and the judge are expected to revisit scheduling.
Trial delays
Newman, 34, and his girlfriend, Haydee Razo, 43, face first-degree murder, child abuse and conspiracy charges in the 2019 death of the man’s son, two-year-old Jackson James “JJ” Newman.
Newman called 911 that morning to report his son had vomited and wasn’t breathing at their trailer at 2905 North Las Vegas Blvd.
JJ was already dead by the time his body arrived at University Medical Center, according to Newman’s arrest report. Hospital staff told detectives then that his physical appearance “was one of the worst cases of malnourishment they’ve seen,” the report said.
Newman’s trial has already been delayed for a multitude of reasons, including the COVID-19 pandemic and disputes over evidence.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher Hamner said his office could be ready for Newman’s October trial, but prosecutors were not opposed to a continuance.
Working remotely
After the hearing, Gaston said the absence of a dedicated workspace has complicated preparation for capital trials, making it harder and time-consuming to coordinate and meet with experts and witnesses for cases that demand extensive resources.
Earlier this month, public defenders’ office staff and staff from the county law library, which was also housed in the same building, were “evacuated” from their longtime office, Clark County Defenders Union President David Westbrook said.
A May 15 letter to county officials asserted that the space was contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls, chemicals commonly known as PCBs.
“We represent several individuals who currently work, or previously worked, in the Building and who have suffered significant illnesses, including but not limited to cancer — conditions that scientific literature has causally linked to PCB exposure,” the letter said.
Since the evacuation, public defenders have been navigating shared office space in another county building, trying to communicate with clients and remain effective attorneys without the structure their old building provided.
The county has told them that it is unknown when they will be able to return.
Gaston said many staff members, including himself, are working remotely using county-issued laptops.
“Maybe I will be better at dealing with this in a couple of months, but as of right now, I think it would be difficult to prepare both capital cases at the same time,” Gaston said.
Still, the public defender said he does not anticipate a wave of continuances due to the displacement, noting his office has only two death penalty trials scheduled for the fall.
‘Make sure we keep cases moving’
The public defender’s office reached out to the criminal judges when they were removed from their building, according to Chief District Judge Tierra Jones.
Jones said that, based on the information she has received, other public defenders are not requesting continuances due to building issues.
“That’s the only time that I’m aware of that they’ve requested any type of continuance,” she said.
The judges assured the public defenders “that we would work with them to the best that we can to make sure we keep the cases moving, but we haven’t had any issues.”
Contact Akiya Dillon at adillon@reviewjournal.com. Staff reporter Noble Brigham contributed to this report.
