Wednesday, April 17, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
CARSON CITY -- Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa says she's confident that convicted killer Patrick McKenna of Las Vegas will get his new penalty hearing "within a reasonable time frame."
McKenna has been on death row since 1980 for the strangulation murder of Jack Nobles while they were both in the Clark County Jail.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled McKenna was entitled to a new penalty hearing. Del Papa's office appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which refused to hear her petition Monday.
Del Papa said this case was a good example why Congress should limit the number of appeals of persons sentenced to death. McKenna has appealed four times since the death penalty was handed down 16 years ago.
"The time for reform, including limiting involvement by the federal courts in reviewing state death penalty cases, is past due," Del Papa said. "No longer should Nevada citizens contend with excessive involvement by the federal judiciary, years and years and years after convictions and death sentences have been delivered."
She said McKenna has been a serious security problem since he was first sent to prison at age 16. He was released and was arrested for new offenses in Clark County, where he had been convicted for sexual assault the day before he strangled Nobles.
In the early 1980s, McKenna was convicted in a hostage taking episode at the Nevada State Prison from which he was trying to escape.
Del Papa said she was disappointed in the decision by the Supreme Court but said she was "confident that Clark County District Attorney Stewart Bell and his excellent staff of prosecutors will retry the penalty phase case within a reasonable time frame."
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