Convicted killer must return to prison

The four years of premature freedom for a man convicted of a 1987 murder has ended.

District Judge John McGroarty, who had allowed Juan Maurichal Simon to remain free on bail pending what became a marathon appeal process, revoked the bail after deciding Thursday that he no longer has jurisdiction in the case.

By the time he was released in 1995 Simon had served seven years of a life sentence and needed to serve three more before he would become eligible for parole for murdering Ronnie Twigg in a parking lot confrontation that escalated to gunfire.

Twigg was shot in the side and the back and his sister, Denice Twigg, said it was clear he was attempting to flee when he was gunned down.

Simon claimed after his arrest four days later that the shooting was in self defense.

The bail had been granted when McGroarty determined Simon had not had a fair trial and overturned the second-degree murder conviction because instructions to the jury improperly favored the prosecution.

But the Clark County district attorney's office appealed that conclusion and the Nevada Supreme Court, in a terse decision, overruled McGroarty and reinstated the murder conviction.

Rather than return Simon to jail, the judge let his tenuous freedom continue while the appeal process moved into the federal courts -- even after U.S. District Judge Johnnie Rawlinson rejected the appeal because of procedural irregularities.

Simon's case is now pending in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, but Nevada prosecutors and the Twigg family have long complained that Simon was overdue for a return trip to prison to serve out his sentence.

During the past four years Simon has gotten married, and his pregnant wife sobbed in anguish when McGroarty announced his decision to revoke the bail.

"I love you, Juan," she said quietly as court bailiffs prepared to handcuff Simon for his trip back to jail.

Simon's mother and other family members who crowded the courtroom also cried openly at the judge's decision.

The Twigg family, however, did not travel from Kansas for the hearing.

Denice Twigg said in a telephone interview after the hearing that the family is "very relieved" with Thursday's events because "we felt justice was not served by his being free and having a life outside a prison cell."

At the same time, she said, "we're saddened for his wife" because she is losing a loved one, but noted that the Twigg family has had to deal with their loss for the past 12 years.

"We realize that one day (Simon) will get out of prison, but he didn't serve a fraction of his time and it just was injustice," Twigg said.

Deputy Public Defender Thomas Rigsby complained that the Nevada Supreme Court never fully considered Simon's appeal issues and the federal challenge is aimed at forcing the state's high court to grant a full hearing.

Deputy District Attorney Alexandra Chrysanthis commented that by the time the federal courts finally rule, McGroarty may no longer be on the bench.

"There is no requirement that Simon be out of custody while he is appealing," she said.

McGroarty agreed, stating that once the Nevada Supreme Court overturned his decision and the case moved into the federal system, "I lost jurisdiction."

In a last ditch effort to preserve Simon's freedom, Deputy Public Defender Thomas Rigsby filed a new challenge to the conviction in state court and urged McGroarty to set a bail that would let the defendant resume his life.

A hearing on the new state court appeal is set for Jan. 21, but McGroarty said he wasn't willing to keep Simon out of prison until then.

The judge predicted that no matter what happens at that hearing, "This case has to be resolved in federal court."

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