Monday, Sept. 22, 2003 | 11:09 a.m.
A district judge cut bail in half this morning for one of the alleged 311 Boyz on additional battery charges stemming from an attack in northwest Las Vegas in which two men were struck with a crowbar.
Stephen Gazlay, 18, faces one count each of battery with use of a deadly weapon resulting in substantial bodily harm and assault with use of a deadly weapon.
Gazlay's bail had been set at $100,000 last week when he was indicted, pending his arrest. When he appeared in court this morning, a warrant for his arrest was withdrawn and District Judge John McGroarty reduced the bail on those charges to $50,000.
"There's no reason for that bail to be imposed," Gazlay's attorney, James "Bucky" Buchanan, said. "He has no prior felonies and he's a Las Vegas resident who has been here all his life."
He is still out on $40,000 bail on previous charges, but prosecutors are expected to ask a judge to raise that bail to $500,000 in a hearing scheduled for Friday.
McGroarty set a court date for Sept. 29, at which time Gazlay is expected to be arraigned and post bail in the case.
Prosecutors say in the new charges that Gazlay attacked Sean Quinn, 20, with a crowbar or another metal object in a desert area known as the "basin" near the Las Vegas Beltway and Centennial Parkway on July 21.
Police say the area is a popular place for Las Vegas Valley teenagers to drink and party.
Gazlay, who had already been indicted on 13 felony counts in connection with the maiming of 17-year-old Stephen Tanner Hansen with a rock, was indicted on the new charges last week.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher Laurent had objected to the reduction in bail and informed the judge of the litany of other charges Gazlay faces in District Court, including the Hansen incident.
Hansen was injured when one of the teens threw a rock through the windshield of the truck in which he was riding. The rock crushed the left side of his face.
Gazlay also faces an additional charge of battery with a deadly weapon resulting in substantial bodily harm in connection with the heating of a butter knife and placing it against the ear of another teen, burning him.
He is scheduled to be arraigned on that case on Tuesday before District Judge Valorie Vega.
Outside court this morning, Buchanan said he believed prosecutors were "trying to break" Gazlay by filing the additional charges but said he had no plans of giving up the court battle.
"As you can see, he's not doing very well," Buchanan said of his client. "But I won't negotiate this case."
Gazlay, who in the past discussed the case freely with reporters and proclaimed his innocence, left court this morning quickly, wearing dark sunglasses.
Buchanan said he expects his client will post bail by the next court date.
"I hope he will," Buchanan said. "He has a lot of people supporting him."
Police say the 311 Boyz are a gang of affluent teens who are responsible for several attacks in northwest Las Vegas during the summer. Some of the attacks were videotaped.
Several eyewitnesses to the attack on Hansen told prosecutors and police that Gazlay was one of the instigators of that melee. Prosecutors, however, have not said which teen, if any, they believe is the ringleader of the gang.
Gazlay, in interviews with the Sun and other local media, has denied any involvement in any violence associated with the 311 Boyz. He and the other teens charged in the attack on Hansen entered not guilty pleas in that case.
In relation to the crowbar case, according to police reports taken at the scene, Quinn said a man named Adam "Taz" Henry, 23, knocked him to the ground and "it was then that he was attacked by the rest of the 311 Boyz Gang."
Once Quinn was down, prosecutors say, Gazlay began hitting him with a crowbar or a similar metal object. Prosecutors say other 311 Boyz jumped in and proceeded to "gang beat" Quinn.
When Quinn's friend, James Sarlo, jumped in to help Quinn, Gazlay attacked him with the weapon as well, Laurent said. Quinn was later treated for a broken jaw, broken nose, cuts and scrapes, Laurent said.
Henry, who many eyewitnesses pointed to as one of the leaders of the 311 Boyz, negotiated his case in Las Vegas Justice Court.
Henry's battery charge was reduced to a misdemeanor. He was sentenced to an indefinite period of probation and ordered to pay $200 in restitution.
Henry's attorney has said that his client played a minor role in the attack on Quinn.
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