Public to help pay Strohmeyer trial expenses

Chief District Judge Myron Leavitt has opened the county's pocketbook to help pay some expenses for the trial of 19-year-old Jeremy Strohmeyer on charges he raped and murdered a 7-year-old girl at a Primm hotel-casino.

But Leavitt's allocation of $32,000 for defense investigators, medical and psychological examinations was less than a third of what the defense team wanted. And he refused to grant a second delay in the trial that is now set to beginAug. 17.

Leavitt said while the teenager's parents are paying for their son's high-priced legal talent after footing the bill for pre-trial expenses, Strohmeyer is indigent and eligible for government assistance.

"The amount is far short of what I foolishly expected," said Los Angeles attorney Leslie Abramson about the judge's limits on taxpayer-funded spending.

Las Vegas defense attorney Richard Wright said that trial preparation has ground to a halt because there have been no funds from the Strohmeyer family for myriad things the defense team says must be done.

Abramson said the family already has spent $400,000 on investigative and other pre-trial expenses in addition to attorney fees.

Wright said a delay in the trial would give the family time to accumulate additional funds.

"They have drained everything -- IRAs, savings, their home," Wright said. "It's all gone. We need additional funds."

"Investigators alone will cost another $20,000," Abramson told the judge, who had allocated $3,500 for that purpose. "We can't go to trial if we're not prepared. We either need time or money and we're getting neither."

Deputy District Attorney Peggy Leen countered, "The fact that the defense can think of more things to do and more ways to spend money doesn't deprive (Strohmeyer) of a fair trial."

Leen suggested the lawyers use a portion of their fees to pay for expenses they deem vital.

Wright urged Leavitt to provide funds for a study about the influence of media stories in the case on prospective jurors. He reiterated his belief that it will be impossible to seat an impartial jury and a change of venue will be necessary.

He said that former District Judge Don Chairez, who had presided over the case before resigning to run for U.S. Congress, promised in an informal meeting that the trial would be postponed and the case moved to Reno.

After Tuesday's hearing, Chairez refuted the defense claim stating that while the issues were discussed, no promises were made for either a postponement or a change of venue.

"Just because I was considering it doesn't mean I was planning to do it," he said.

He noted that, like Leavitt, he also had refused to authorize the spending of $45,000 in public funds to conduct a poll about the media's influence on prospective jurors.

In addition to the $3,500 for investigators, Leavitt authorized $20,000 for mental health examinations, $7,500 for other experts and $1,000 for graphic displays for trial and copying expenses.

Strohmeyer is charged in the May 1997 strangulation slaying of Sherrice Iverson in a women's restroom at the Primm Valley hotel-casino on the Nevada-California border, 45 miles southwest of Las Vegas.

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