Can prosecutors use a late nurse’s testimony in a Las Vegas lieutenant’s case?
Attorneys for a Las Vegas police lieutenant accused of strangling his wife are trying to prevent prosecutors from using prior testimony of the nurse who conducted all strangulation exams in Clark County and recently died.
Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Brian Boxler was arrested in October and faces a count of battery constituting domestic violence by strangulation. Police said Boxler attacked his wife after a fight over laundry. Officers said Boxler’s wife had red marks on her neck and reported that her husband grabbed her neck and pushed her against a wall.
A preliminary hearing transcript shows that Boxler’s wife has since claimed she cannot remember what she said to police and has denied that her husband physically attacked her.
“She does completely support her husband and she does believe that the charges are unfounded,” said attorney Richard Scotti, who represents Boxler’s wife.
Nurse Jeri Dermanelian, who examined Boxler’s wife, conducted all strangulation exams and most adult sexual assault exams in Clark County, Metro Sgt. Andrew O’Grady said previously. Dermanelian died April 20 and in the wake of her death, prosecutors filed a motion to use her December preliminary hearing testimony in Boxler’s pending case, since she will be “unavailable for trial.”
Boxler’s defense attorneys, Dominic Gentile and Gia Marina, oppose the request. They argued in a filing that “her prior testimony cannot be introduced at the time of trial because Lt. Boxler did not have an adequate opportunity to cross-examine her during the preliminary hearing.”
The defense attorneys also oppose replacing Dermanelian as a witness with Rachell Ekroos, whose organization, Nevada HealthRight, now sees the patients Dermanelian would have examined.
“Ms. Ekroos was not present during the examination of Stephanie Boxler, did not personally touch or ask questions of Mrs. Boxler, nor gain independent knowledge of background medical information from Mrs. Boxler,” they wrote.
It’s unclear if this filing is the first of its kind after Dermanelian’s death, but Assistant District Attorney Alexander Chen said he thinks there could be challenges on other pending Dermanelian cases.
“We’re trying to figure out the best way to move forward,” he said.
Defense attorney Jess Marchese, who handles domestic violence cases, said Dermanelian’s strangulation exams should be suppressed. A defendant has a right to cross-examine a witness, he said, and with Dermanelian’s death, that can’t happen.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Peter Thunell previously said the district attorney’s office has a plan and did not anticipate Dermanelian’s death would disrupt pending cases. Other experts could use the work she did, including notes and pictures, he said.
Each case involving Dermanelian will hinge on different facts, Gentile said.
In this case, the camera Dermanelian used had a red bias, which would make skin look redder than it really was, he said. Though Marina cross-examined Dermanelian at the preliminary hearing, he said the defense did not know what kind of camera the nurse used until the hearing was held.
The situation might have been different in Boxler’s case, Gentile said, had the defense not asserted the right to a preliminary hearing within 15 days and had time to find their own expert witness. Gentile said in the filing that the defense did not receive Dermanelian’s photos of Boxler’s wife until the evening before the preliminary hearing.
According to Metro, Boxler is “on suspension of police powers without pay.” Boxler is on administrative leave, said his attorney.
A hearing is scheduled for May 28.
Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X.
