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A 12-member jury has returned a verdict of Guilty of First Degree Murder with Use of a Deadly Weapon in State v. James Valdez. In addition, the jury found Valdez guilty of Attempted Murder with Use of a Deadly Weapon. A penalty phase will begin at 9 a.m. Monday (April 2) in District Court Department 6.

Valdez faces a possible death penalty for the slaying of 31-year-old Teresa Tilden and the attempted murder of Shiloh Edsitty in November 2004. The jury found Valdez not guilty of a charge of Assault with Use of a Deadly Weapon.

When announcing the verdict, the jury foreman told Senior Judge Joseph T. Bonaventure that the jury had already considered a possible penalty for Valdez. Despite that fact, Judge Bonaventure told the jurors they must still consider aggravating and mitigating factors in the case prior to reaching a penalty verdict. He then directed the jury to return Monday morning.

“Never in my 30-plus years on the bench, never have I had a jury tell me they’ve already made a decision” regarding penalty, said Judge Bonaventure, outside the presence of the jury. Judge Bonaventure requested input from the prosecution and the defense attorneys and indicated he may have more to say about this matter before the penalty phase begins April 2.

The case remains on appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court regarding the issue of representation. Tuesday (March 27) Judge Jackie Glass vacated the April trial date and set a status check of May 3, 2007 to review the case and set a new trial date. At question is who will represent Kelly Ryan: Greg Denue or Michael Cristalli.

Michael Villani and David Barker were appointed today by Governor Jim Gibbons to serve as District Court Judges in the Eighth Judicial District Court. Villani and Barker will serve in Departments 17 and 18, which were vacated by Judges Michael Cherry and Nancy Saitta when they were selected by voters to serve as Nevada Supreme Court Justices.

Michael Villani, who will serve in Department 17, currently practices family law, civil litigation and criminal defense and owns his own practice, Michael P. Villani & Associates. He has lived in Nevada for 46 years and has practiced law since 1982, when he earned his law degree from California Western School of Law.

David Barker, who will sit in Department 18, currently serves as Chief Deputy District Attorney in the Clark County District Attorney’s office, where he leads the criminal trial team. He came to Nevada to begin his law practice after he earned his law degree from Pepperdine University in 1984.

Governor Gibbons made his selection from a pool of judicial candidates nominated by Nevada’s Judicial Selection Commission. Judges Villani and Barker will serve until the next general election, in November 2008, when they must run for election to their posts.

This morning the Rev. George Chaanine told Criminal Hearing Master Kevin Williams he was not guilty of sexually assaulting a female vocalist in January. Chaanine was arrested in Arizona after an alleged assault January 26, 2007 at at Our Lady of Las Vegas, a southern Nevada Catholic parish office. He has been charged with seven felony counts including attempted murder, sexual assault, kidnapping and battery. Chaanine next appears at 9:15 a.m. Thursday (March 22) before District Court Judge Michelle Leavitt to seek bail and to schedule a trial.

This morning District Court Judge David Wall sentenced Jody Kenneth Thompson to a maximum of sixty (60) months and a minimum of twenty-four (24) months in the Nevada Department of Corrections (NDC), to be served concurrent with 06-C-219049-C and
consecutive to 04-C-200176-C. Thompson received no credit for time served awaiting sentencing.

Thompson, a U.S. Marshals Service Top 15 Most Wanted Fugitive, was arrested November 29, 2005 in Las Vegas by members of the U.S. Marshals Service and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s SWAT Team and Robbery Detail. Thompson escaped from the Northern Nevada Correctional Center (NNCC) in Lovelock on August 25, 2005. Before his escape Thompson was serving 12 consecutive sentences of 30 to 150 months each for charges of kidnapping, robbery with a deadly weapon, and burglary.