lvcourtsblog.com

This afternoon, Judge Douglas Herndon denied Darren Mack’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea and set sentencing for February 7 and 8 in the Reno. Mack’s attorney William Routsis argued that Mack should receive a new trial due to coercion, misconduct and misrepresentations by Mack’s former attorneys.

Mack entered guilty pleas on murder and attempted murder charges November 5, 2007, ending the trial before he could testify. Today in closing arguments, Routsis asked Judge Herndon to give Mack a new trial so that he would have an opportunity to tell his story saying Mack had been coerced by his former counsel. State Special Prosecutor Chris Lalli dismissed the claims that Mack had been coerced and said that Mack had voluntarily agreed to plead guilty.

Witness testimony was presented over the course of three days and Judge Herndon considered the issues surrounding the trial and the eventual guilty plea.

Following arguments by counsel this morning, Herndon spent nearly two hours explaining his decision in detail. He said that when Mack entered his plea he questioned the defendant about his decision and was satisfied that Mack’s was entering a plea freely and voluntarily. In addition, he concluded that Mack’s former attorneys, David Chesnoff and Scott Freeman, provided the type of defense representation that went beyond what many defendant’s receive in similar circumstances.