Groesbeck case will be presented to grand jury

Prosecutors on Friday filed a formal notice saying the case of Robert Groesbeck will go to a Clark County grand jury after the former Henderson mayor vetoed a plea bargain last week.

Although gross misdemeanor charges of open and gross lewdness and battery on a police officer already have been filed, the planned presentation of the case to a grand jury puts the case on a fast track for a District Court trial.

If convicted of the charge that he groped Las Vegas real estate agent Gay Gustafson, Groesbeck would be considered a sex offender and would have to register as such with law enforcement agencies wherever he lives.

Sources inside the district attorney's office said testimony is expected to be presented to a grand jury within the next three weeks and an indictment could be returned the next day.

Taking the case to a Justice Court preliminary hearing can result in months of delays on a variety of procedural grounds unrelated to the facts of a case.

Part of the evidence in the case is a videotape that shows about an hour of events after the alleged groping incident and continues through Groesbeck's tussle with police as they arrested him.

The security videotape from the Mandalay Bay hotel-casino of the Sept. 3 incident that began during a private party in the resort's exclusive Foundation Room has not been made public and will not be until it becomes evidence in the criminal case -- if that occurs.

If a plea bargain is reached, it likely would keep that videotape -- described as "embarrassing" to Groesbeck by authorities who have seen it -- from being released.

After early negotiations between District Attorney Stewart Bell and Groesbeck's attorney at the time, John Moran Jr., the prosecution's best offer would have required Groesbeck to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts.

Bell has said that he will not authorize any plea bargain that would let the charges eventually be dismissed -- even if there were counseling, community service, fines or other requirements involved.

That would leave Groesbeck with a criminal record.

"We can't give him a pass or we would have to give everyone a pass," Bell said. "You can't put your hand down someone's dress and you can't fight with police. You can't do those things.

However, Bell added, "The media has blown this out of proportion. This is not the crime of the century. What we've got is a guy who got drunk and did some stupid stuff."

The videotape, according to sources, does not show the groping incident but does capture the altercation with police, who decided to arrest Groesbeck after the agitated ex-politician berated the officers with a variety of expletives.

Police reports state that Groesbeck continually flaunted what he indicated were personal relationships with Sheriff Jerry Keller and Las Vegas Councilman Michael McDonald, who was in the club that night but said he did not witness the incident.

Authorities said the videotape shows that once a decision is made to arrest Groesbeck, an officer reaches for the defendant, but he grabs the officer by the arm and a tussle for control begins.

It ends with four officers involved and with Groesbeck getting one of them in a headlock before he is taken down and handcuffed.

Groesbeck refused to provide blood or urine samples for drug tests, but Bell noted that if a suspect is not driving, a warrant is required to obtain such samples, and that is traditionally not done in such cases.

Bell has said the case is going to go forward despite the fact that Gustafson has said she no longer wants to press charges against Groesbeck, who is general counsel for Republic Silver State Disposal, Inc.

Gustafson has said publicly that Groesbeck has apologized to her and she has accepted the apology.

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