Attorney protests late notice of death penalty

An announcement by the district attorney's office that the death penalty will be sought for a teenager charged in the murder of a 64-year-old man seems destined to complicate the case, or at least delay it.

Defense attorney Tony Sgro is asking that prosecutors not be allowed to seek death for 19-year-old Esteban Hernandez because of the late notice -- just 18 days before the scheduled trial in District Judge Joseph Bonaventure's courtroom.

A hearing on the issue is set for Jan. 28.

Sgro said that at the very least, the trial must be postponed because it would be "impossible" to arrange for psychological evaluations and other evidence that would be necessary for a penalty hearing if Hernandez is convicted of first-degree murder.

Sgro admitted the announcement came within the legal time limit -- 15 days before trial. That limit will change come Feb. 1, when prosecutors will have to declare at arraignments, which are at least 60 days before a trial, whether they will seek the death penalty.

Still, Sgro said, Wednesday's announcement in the Hernandez case "violates the spirit" of the Nevada Supreme Court rule change.

The victim, Samuel Paterniti, was abducted from a parking lot at Lake Mead and Decatur boulevards on June 23. His body was found in the desert north of Centennial Parkway on June 27.

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