In The Presence Of
God
that no matter what consolation the justice system
may achieve, she will never again be able to walk
upon this earth, and her family will never be whole,"
Bonaventure said. He called Strohmeyer's claim that
he remembers little of the incident that led to his
incarceration "a distorted, self-serving, embellished
view."
Bonaventure dismissed Strohmeyer's claim that he
wants to know the truth, noting that he confessed in
detail to police following his arrest three days after
the incident in the state-line casino 50 miles
southwest of Las Vegas.
Looking down at Strohmeyer, the judge then stated,
"This court cannot tell you why you did what you
did, but this court finds ... the truth to be that you,
Mr. Strohmeyer, did in fact kidnap, and kill Sherrice
Iverson."
Robert Preuss, one of Strohmeyer's new lawyers,
suggested that Bonaventure's decision was a result of
the "politically charged" atmosphere of the case and
commented that the ruling was a "deep, deep
disappointment" to Strohmeyer. The defendant's
father, John Strohmeyer, said at a news conference
after the announcement that "Yes, we're
discouraged," but said that further appeals are likely.
He noted that Las Vegas is a "destination resort" and
contended that there was a great push because of
"the money involved ... to get this behind them as
quickly as possible." "I'm pretty unclear what the
truth is," he said. "I think it will unfold some day, but
today is not that day.
There are a lot of facts and a lot of fabrication.
Where they merge I don't know." To win,
Strohmeyer's New York lawyers Preuss and Camille
Abate had to prove that the trial lawyers were
incompetent or unfairly muscled the defendant into
taking the plea bargain.
Bell called Strohmeyer's defense by Abramson and
Wright "the most vigorous" he has seen in his career.
Bonaventure agreed, terming them "the A-team of
defense counsel." Preuss had argued the defense
team told Strohmeyer that under the best of
circumstances he would be convicted at a trial and
wouldn't be eligible for parole for 75 years.
Strohmeyer should have been told there would have
been a chance for parole after 25 years, Preuss said.
Wright testified Wednesday that such a possibility
was unreasonable given the facts, the judge and jury
and political climate surrounding the case.
He told how he was surprised when Bell agreed to
abandon the prosecution's efforts to seek the death
penalty and let Strohmeyer take a sentence of life
without the possibility of parole. While the New
York lawyers said Strohmeyer always was willing to
risk the death penalty to take his case to a jury,
Wright told how the young man finally decided just
after the jury was picked that he didn't want to take
that risk.
Wednesday's hearing was disrupted momentarily
when there was an escape attempt by a Drug Court
defendant in another courtroom, who had just been
ordered taken into custody by District Judge Jack
Lehman.
The commotion outside Bonaventure's courtroom
resulted in a corrections officer, with his hand on his
gun, hauling Strohmeyer to the safety of a hallway
behind the courtroom while other officers
investigated the incident. Strohmeyer was returned
moments later when it was determined the disruption
was neither an attempt to free Strohmeyer nor an
attempt on his life.
The escapee was arrested by pursuing bailiffs outside
the courthouse, after he slightly injured one officer.
But for Strohmeyer at this point, his future will
consist of years of endless days in a protective
custody cubicle at the Ely State Prison. He is released
for only an hour a day and closely watched because
of threats against his life.
God will judge your murderer
Protected Him, Who Protected Sherrice?
SHERRICE IVERSON, 7, who was murdered May
25, 1997, in a Primm, Nev. casino restroom, is
shown in this undated family photo. Defense
attorneys for Jeremy Strohmeyer, who is accused in
the murder, failed Tuesday, Aug. 25, 1998, in their
bid to delay the start of the trial.
JEREMY STROHMEYER sits Wednesday between
his lawyers, Leslie Abramson and Richard Wright, in
Clark County District Court during his formal
sentencing hearing.
February 10, 2000
Officials were preparing today to return confessed
child killer Jeremy Strohmeyer to a protective
custody cubicle at Nevada State Prison in Carson
City after a judge Wednesday denied his request to
withdraw a guilty plea in the death of Sherrice
Iverson.
Strohmeyer, serving a life sentence without the
possibility of parole, had sought a trial on the charges
of murder, kidnap and rape, saying he could not
remember what happened in the women's restroom
of a Primm casino, where the 7-year-old's body was
found propped in a stall on May 25, 1997. His 1998
trial was short-circuited when he agreed to the plea
bargain that put him in prison for life. If he had been
convicted, a jury could have given him the death
penalty.
His lawyers argued in the request for a trial that
Strohmeyer had been coerced to agree to the plea
bargain by his former attorneys, Leslie Abramson
and Richard Wright. After the decision, District
Attorney Stewart Bell said simply, "Justice was done
a year ago and was done again today." The case
attracted national attention, and the courtroom of
District Judge Joseph Bonaventure was packed with
news crews from Court TV, Los Angeles television
stations and local media, as well as activists and
supporters of the Iverson family.
The judge recognized Strohmeyer's plight in prison
and his desire for a chance at freedom one day, but
in rejecting his bid to withdraw the guilty plea, the
judge didn't sympathize with the 21-year-old killer.
"With the passage of time, the reality of being behind
bars for the rest of one's life must become more and
more disheartening," Bonaventure said in his
decision. "To watch one's self deteriorate into the
hopelessness that only prison can bring comes with it
the sense of unfairness that justice was not served.
