Sunday, Nov. 15, 1998 | 9:08 a.m.
As Reginald Hayes and two teen-age co-defendants sat in a local courtroom in 1985, a prosecutor described them as "young thugs who probably can't spell homicide."
Hayes was a 14-year-old eighth-grader from Las Vegas with no prior criminal history when he and his fellow teens were charged that August with killing one man and wounding four others during a nightlong shooting spree.
He told the court he merely tried to catch a ride home with the others, never touched a firearm and was present only for the homicide. And while the other defendants fled from authorities following a brief car chase, Hayes stayed with the vehicle and voluntarily led police to the body.
But the jury pinned a first-degree murder conviction on Hayes along with the others, and a judge sentenced them to life in prison without parole. Hayes received an additional 80 years for the four other attempted murder convictions.
An effort is now under way to get the 28-year-old Hayes released from the Southern Desert Correctional Center in Indian Springs. Supporters of the effort believe Hayes was railroaded to prison, largely because he was black. Thanks to lawyers and community leaders who support Hayes, Clark County District Judge Kathy Hardcastle will be asked Thursday to resentence him to the lesser offense of kidnapping with a chance for immediate parole.
Hayes' situation was precisely the type of case that led to formation of a Nevada Supreme Court task force on racial and economic bias in the justice system. It so happens that Elgin Simpson, executive director of the task force, is acting in a separate capacity as spokesman for Hayes' supporters.
"This is the kind of stuff that has caused people to distrust the criminal justice system and believe that the system is stacked against them," Simpson said.
Some law-enforcement officials now also agree that Hayes got a raw deal. One is Metro Police Undersheriff Richard Winget, who wrote an Oct. 9 letter to the Nevada Board of Parole Commissioners.
"His story is a travesty that I would like to do everything possible to repair," Winget wrote. "It was a tragedy that he was even convicted, let alone in prison for all these years. This is our opportunity to right the wrong and give this man his life back."
The Hayes case carried racial overtones because the black teens were charged with murdering John H. Brown, a 21-year-old white Nellis Air Force Base airman, who also delivered the Sun part time.
That race was an issue didn't escape the notice of Jesse Scott, then president of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Expressing shock over the "senseless killing," Scott urged the Clark County district attorney's office to prosecute the case "to the fullest extent of the law."
Scott said at the time that he spoke up because he didn't want to leave an impression that his organization supported the shooting of whites by blacks.
The defendants were tried by an all-white jury, chosen from a pool of dozens of potential jurors, only one of whom was black.
"All-white juries still exist here," Simpson said. "If it's a black defendant, odds are there won't be a black person on the jury. There is a feeling that black people won't convict other black people, which isn't true."
When Hayes and the others first entered the courtroom for their trial, they were temporarily left in shackles before members of the jury, a situation normally prohibited in criminal cases because it gives jurors an impression of guilt. Defense attorneys sought a mistrial on that point, but their motion was rejected by the judge.
Simpson said Hayes also was a victim of guilt by association at a time when local law-enforcement agencies were just beginning to crack down on street gangs. Prosecutors believed Hayes to be a member of the Rolling 60s gang, a charge he denied.
Then Chief Deputy District Attorney Mel Harmon described Hayes and fellow defendants Eddie Ray Hampton and Donald Ray Lee as "desperadoes" who had turned Las Vegas into another Dodge City, Kan., or Tombstone, Ariz., towns associated with the Wild West.
In opening arguments Harmon described the trio as "tough little hoodlums" who were "too immature to realize the sanctity of life."
Harmon added that, lacking a meaningful motive, the shootings were committed "just for the thrill of it."
But Simpson noted that prosecutors in the mid-1980s commonly lumped black and Hispanic youths into gangs simply based on their addresses and friendships. Simpson said Hayes, an average student with strong family ties, was simply lumped with others who had alleged gang connections.
"It was an 'us against them' mentality," Simpson said. "Because this (murder victim) was a white male in the military, they (the defendants) didn't have a snowball's chance in hell."
To make his point that the justice system is racially biased, Simpson contrasted the Hayes case to that of former Metro Police Officer Christopher Brady, who is white. Though he drove the getaway car during the 1996 drive-by murder of Daniel Mendoza, Brady escaped prosecution when he became chief witness in the conviction of his fellow officer, Ron Mortensen.
Prosecutors said they didn't charge Brady because he volunteered his story without having first been arrested. Simpson scoffed at that reasoning.
"If the driver had been a young black man or a young Hispanic man, even if they were police officers, they would be in jail for the same crime," Simpson said. "In Reggie's case, he wasn't just a passenger. He was an unwitting passenger who was instructed by an adult to get in the car."
Police initially reported that the shooting spree began about 10:45 p.m. on Aug. 9, 1985, when two men in a pickup truck were struck by bullets near D Street and Jackson Avenue. The next shooting reportedly occurred at midnight, when a 13-year-old boy was shot in the chest in the 1900 block of Carrera Drive.
The next victim, according to police, was a 17-year-old boy who was shot in the lower right abdomen at 2:10 a.m. Aug. 10 at H Street and Jackson Avenue. Police also reported that a 16-year-old girl was then shot in the neck at 3:15 a.m. on Gerlach Drive.
Though none of those victims were seriously wounded, some details of those shootings were presented differently in testimony. The girl with the neck wound, for instance, turned out to be 13 years old and said she was shot while riding a moped on Silverman Way.
Brown, the murder victim, had just returned two days earlier from New York, where he had visited his parents and fiance during military leave. At Nellis he served with the 57th Equipment Maintenance Squad as a munitions maintenance specialist who loaded weapons onto planes.
He also was studying to become a minister. A friend described him at the time as a "peaceful man who wouldn't harm a fly."
Police reported that Brown was kidnapped from the 1900 block of Genoa Drive. That's where his vehicle was found, still loaded with Sun newspapers that he was supposed to deliver.
He was taken by car to an alley behind the 1900 block of Allen Lane about 3:50 a.m., where he reportedly was stomped, kicked and robbed of $9 and then fatally shot in the head with what was believed to be a sawed-off .22-caliber rifle.
Shortly afterward, police chased the suspects' vehicle, reportedly a stolen Toyota with stolen Wyoming license plates. The chase led to an apartment complex at H Street and Lake Mead Boulevard, where the suspects' car doors flew open shortly before the two-toned vehicle crashed into an apartment building.
Three of the suspects -- Hampton, Lee and Phillip Minor -- bailed out and escaped into the darkness. Only Hayes stayed with the vehicle. The other three were captured by police later that morning.
The most damaging testimony against Hayes came from Miecha Grayson, the girl wounded in the neck. She testified she got a "glimpse" of the person she thought shot her from the front passenger seat of the suspects' vehicle.
Grayson said she later picked Hayes out of a 25-person police photo lineup and described him as the defendant who shot her. She also pointed him out in the courtroom while she was on the witness stand.
Metro Detective Ray Brotherson later testified that Hayes said he was present when the "white man" was kidnapped, beaten and shot. Brotherson said Hayes also told police he was supposed to steal the victim's car but couldn't because it had a manual transmission, which he didn't know how to operate. The detective added, however, that Hayes cooperated with police by leading them to the body.
When Winget wrote his letter to the parole commissioners last month, he noted Hayes' cooperation.
"He had been picked up by these older males, and after speaking to the arresting officer, Ray Brotherson, I am convinced that he was not a participant, nor was he aware of what the others had planned," Winget wrote. "There is no doubt that he acted simply in a manner to save his own life.
"He cooperated totally with the officers and detectives, and even identified all of the suspects and the shooter in the murder. This young gentleman did everything he could to bring these violent offenders to justice."
Hayes was the older of two sons raised by Helen Jones, then a single parent who has since married and lives in Las Vegas.
"Reggie was a good kid," Jones said. "He didn't give me any trouble. Reggie was a very smart kid, but he had to be pushed.
"I kept Reggie and Kenny (her other son) close to me. I would take them to the park and the movies. We would take drives to Mount Charleston. Reggie was also a reader. I tried to lead my kids like I was raised. We kind of kept to ourselves."
Having graduated from Jim Bridger Middle School, Hayes was on summer break when the shootings occurred. The day of his arrest he was scheduled to pick up his gear for his first season of Pop Warner football, Jones said.
The night the shootings began, however, Hayes was in hot water with his mother. He had spent at least part of the night watching television at the home of Minor, who at age 18 was four years his senior. When Hayes returned home on his bicycle, Jones was upset that he was late. She said she then took her son back to Minor's house because she wanted to tell Minor's parents that Hayes was too young to hang out with the older teen.
"I didn't know how Reggie came to meet up with Phillip, but I didn't approve of the relationship," Jones recalled.
What Jones also didn't know was that Minor had already gone through the juvenile justice system for gang-related activities. Mujahid Ramadan, who supervised Minor when he was a probation officer for Clark County, recalled that the teen wasn't a gang member but a "wannabe" who "acted out" in ways that indicated he wanted to prove himself to gangs.
Ramadan, now executive director of Nevada Partners, an employment and life-skills program, also knew Hayes as a child. The youngster used to hang around the Boys Club basketball team Ramadan coached.
"He (Hayes) was quiet, and he didn't cause any trouble," Ramadan said. "He came from a solid setting with good, solid supervision. He showed no outward signs that he was a bad character."
A court document filed on Hayes' behalf stated that while Jones was meeting with Minor's parents, Minor went to a store to get his father cigarettes. Hayes went with him. When the two teens returned to the Minor home, Jones had already left. By then, Lee and Hampton also showed up at the home. Minor's father then directed the older youngsters to drive Hayes home.
Contrary to Grayson's testimony, Hayes said he was sitting in the back seat, not the front seat as she alleged. Hayes also said he didn't get into the car until at least 1:50 a.m., which was well after the first two shootings in the initial police report.
Hayes testified that Lee, the driver, refused to take him home. Instead, Hayes said they drove to the Sierra Nevada Arms Apartments where they first spotted Brown. Lee and Minor -- who later pleaded guilty to first-degree murder prior to trial and also was sentenced to life without parole -- drew guns on Brown, with Minor placing the victim in the back seat of the defendants' car, Hayes said.
Hayes said Hampton, who was then 16 and described as a follower with a low IQ, held the sawed-off rifle to Brown's head until they reached the destination where the victim was beaten, robbed and murdered. Hayes said he stayed by the car as Minor, Lee and Hampton kicked Brown before getting back into the vehicle. As they were about to leave, however, Hayes said Lee wanted to shoot Brown.
"No, don't shoot him, just drive off," Hayes testified he told Lee.
But Lee, then 15, returned with the rifle to the walkway between two apartment buildings where Brown remained lying, "and I guess shot him," Hayes said. He testified that he didn't hear the shot go off but saw Lee standing over the body with the rifle "pointed towards the face part."
A short time later the four teens were pursued by police, with only Hayes choosing not to run away after their car crashed. Hayes recalled getting out of the vehicle and putting his hands in the air when a police officer pointed a shotgun at him.
In summation, Hayes' attorney, the late Robert Legakes, said there was no evidence his client had handled a firearm or assisted in any of the alleged crimes.
"What we have here is an unfortunate set of circumstances," Legakes said.
Hampton also had testified that it was Lee who killed Brown, a notion disputed by Lee's attorney. In the end, there was no conclusive evidence at the trial to tie a particular defendant to a particular shooting. But Harmon, in his summation, hammered home his point that the defendants were all "killer kids who transformed a West Las Vegas neighborhood into a shooting gallery."
Ending with a sports analogy, Harmon added: "Mr. Hayes, Mr. Lee and Mr. Hampton, the fat lady is singing."
That was the last remark the jury of 10 women and two men heard. After five hours of deliberation, they concluded there was enough evidence to tie all the teens to all the shootings.
"Whenever the criminal justice system works, then I'm satisfied, and it worked in this case," Harmon said after the convictions.
But court documents later filed on Hayes' behalf alleged that the trial was a travesty for reasons beyond the issue of race. Hayes appealed his conviction in 1986, but the Nevada Supreme Court dismissed his appeal in 1990 and also rejected his follow-up post-conviction petition in 1994.
Hayes' case was then directed to U.S. District Court in Las Vegas. In June 1997, assistant federal public defender P. Danice Johnson filed an amended petition for writ of habeas corpus in federal court that alleged major problems with Hayes' trial. Among them:
* Police violated a state law covering juveniles by failing to notify Hayes' mother of his arrest. Hayes gave a statement to police, which he was given to sign before he was allowed to talk to his mother. The statement was then used against him at the trial.
* During the trial, Hayes' attorney, Legakes, remained under a federal probe connected to his former role as a Clark County district judge. In December 1983, then-Las Vegas attorney Earl Gripentrog offered a $5,000 bribe to then-Judge Legakes to reduce the $3 million bail set for two of Gripentrog's clients. Gripentrog was later sentenced to five years in prison on the bribery charge.
Legakes, meanwhile, resigned from the bench in April 1984 to join a law firm, stating that his job had become routine. But he also reportedly resigned amid speculation that he was the center of an ongoing criminal investigation.
Though criminal charges were never filed against Legakes, Johnson alleged that he remained preoccupied with personal legal matters as well as poor health during Hayes' trial. Legakes died from Lou Gehrig's disease in 1988.
Johnson accused Legakes of conducting an inadequate investigation in Hayes' defense, including the use of an unlicensed investigator. She also charged that Legakes violated a procedural rule by failing to list his alibi witnesses 10 days before trial.
"As such, six witnesses who would have testified as to Hayes' whereabouts during the time of the first reported shootings were not allowed to testify at trial," Johnson wrote.
* The late District Judge Paul Goldman, who presided over the Hayes trial, was beset with physical and mental ailments. At one point, he passed out in his chambers and required hospitalization, an event that interrupted the trial. Goldman resumed the trial upon his return.
"An already defective proceeding became almost bizarre, no doubt due to Judge Goldman's problems," Johnson wrote. "Many of his rulings and admonitions give credence to this claim."
In 1986, several months after the end of Hayes' trial, Goldman attempted unsuccessfully to retire with enhanced pension benefits because of his medical disabilities. A year later, he became the first judge in state history to be ousted by the Nevada Judicial Discipline Commission for "judicial misconduct" related to his courtroom behavior.
Johnson's petition, along with other information from Hayes' advocates, helped convince the Clark County district attorney's office last month to agree to the resentencing. Prosecutors were unwilling to allow Hayes to simply walk away a free man. Instead, they permitted him to plead guilty to kidnapping, with the chance for parole for time already served.
Should Hayes become eligible for parole, he would likely attend a state parole hearing within 90 days, according to David Smith, a management analyst for the parole board. But even under the best circumstances for Hayes, the earliest he could expect to get out of prison would likely be next spring.
Jones said her son, who became a Muslim eight years ago, remains in good spirits.
"He feels he has a good chance of being paroled," she said. "He keeps to himself, but he also counsels the other inmates. Indian Springs is full of gang members. He talks to the young ones and tries to turn them around so that they don't make the mistakes he did.
"Actually, the biggest mistake he made was to get in that car with the other boys. But he didn't look at that as a mistake because he was doing what an adult (Minor's father) told him to do."
Ramadan, who also follows Islamic teachings, is already preparing to counsel Hayes on a weekly basis and looks forward to the time when he can help orient him during his return to society.
"We're going to provide intensive life skills to help him acclimate into his home and community," Ramadan said. "Islam has shown itself to be the most effective way of reducing (prison) recidivism across the country. We have to make sure he's internalized Islamic beliefs.
"We hope Reggie makes the cut. There will be light at the end of the tunnel for this young man."
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