On Wednesday, September 4, 2024, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that a district judge upheld a lower court’s ruling that the Clark County Public Defender’s Office has a conflict of interest in representing a man accused of a 2003 murder.

Clark County District Judge Mary Kay Holthus denied an emergency petition filed by the Public Defender’s Office in an attempt to remain on the case of Ricky Lee Trader at a hearing. Trader is facing an open murder charge for the killing of 28-year-old Theresa Romano, whose body was discovered at a Henderson residence in 2003. New DNA testing recently linked Trader to the crime scene, according to the Henderson Police Department.

The Public Defender’s Office argued before Justice of the Peace David Gibson last month that there was no conflict of interest for them to represent Trader. However, Gibson agreed with the state’s position that a conflict existed due to the office’s prior representation of a key witness in the case, Sherry Wright. Wright told detectives shortly after Romano’s death that Trader had shown up at her door making concerning things, such as that “there was blood all over the place, and she wouldn’t shut up,” referencing an unidentified woman.

Wright is significant to the prosecution’s case against Trader. However, the Public Defender’s Office previously represented her in two separate cases, in 2011 and 2019. At the district court hearing, an attorney for the state emphasized that the same public defenders who once represented the key witness are now handling the defense of the accused killer that the witness implicates.

Judge Holthus acknowledged that Gibson, as a former public defender, had certainly addressed the issue. She said it is unusual for the Public Defender’s Office to try staying on a case where a conflict has been raised rather than accepting the appointment of separate conflict counsel.

While Holthus said she may not have made the exact same ruling as Gibson, she believed he performed the appropriate legal analysis. In the end, she sided with the lower court’s decision due to the potential ethical problems if the same office represented both the defendant and a witness who provided an alleged confession to their prior attorneys.

Holthus’ denial of the Public Defender’s Office petition means Trader’s case will now be handled by separate conflict counsel, as is standard procedure when a public defender conflict exists. The state also warned it would oppose any future attempts to withdraw due to conflicts under similar circumstances if the public defenders remained on the case.

An attorney for the Public Defender’s Office stated they would appeal Holthus’ ruling to the Nevada Supreme Court.

 

 

Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal