Ex-NHP officer pleads guilty in highway death
A former Nevada Highway Patrol sergeant who, while off-duty, caused a three-car fatal crash in 2008 pleaded guilty to felony reckless driving causing death earlier this week.
Edward Lattin, 51, was originally charged with driving under the influence causing death because a test showed he had tetrahydrocannabinol in his blood after the crash. THC is the active drug in marijuana.
On Friday, prosecutor Bruce Nelson said the Clark County district attorney's office negotiated the case with Lattin because the blood test alone could not prove the 20-year Highway Patrol veteran was impaired at the time of the crash.
Nelson said experts were not able to determine by the levels of THC in Lattin's blood whether he was impaired. And paramedics and physicians who cared for Lattin after the crash could not tell whether he was high.
Lattin, who pleaded guilty Tuesday, could be sentenced to probation or face one to six years in prison for reckless driving.
A sentencing hearing is set for June 3 before District Judge Kathleen Delaney.
Lattin, who supervised a unit that investigated fatal car wrecks, was driving a Ford F-150 truck on June 11, 2008, when the crash occurred near Rainbow Boulevard and Hacienda Avenue. The three-car crash killed 49-year-old Ying Warren.
Contact reporter Francis McCabe at
fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039.
