Man with overturned murder conviction sues Clark County DA, alleging malicious prosecution

Carlos Gurri, 62, spent nearly 33 years in state custody in connection with the killing of FBI Special Agent John Bailey. He was accused of being the getaway driver during a bank robbery when his roommate, Jose Echavarria, shot and killed Bailey.

Gurri was sentenced to life in prison and Echavarria was sentenced to death, but both men’s convictions were overturned in 2018 because of alleged judicial misconduct in the case.

Prosecutors dropped the charges against Gurri in 2023, shortly before he was set to stand trial again. Gurri has maintained his innocence, and has repeatedly said he was not present for the robbery. Echavarria, who is scheduled to stand trial again in September, has never implicated Gurri in the crime.

Two lawsuits were filed this month on Gurri’s behalf by attorneys Anthony Sgro, Alanna Bondy and Nicholas Scotti. A lawsuit filed Thursday alleges that prosecutors intentionally withheld information about the judge in Gurri’s trial, continued the “malicious prosecution” against Gurri after his conviction was overturned, and created an “entrenched culture of prosecutorial overreach.”

“The Clark County District Attorney’s Office has long maintained an institutional policy and practice of prioritizing convictions over truth and justice, even in the face of compelling evidence casting doubt on a defendant’s guilt,” attorneys wrote in the lawsuit.

Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson did not respond to a request for comment on Friday.

Attorneys also filed a wrongful conviction complaint on May 1 in which they asked the court to grant Gurri a certificate of innocence.

If he is granted the certificate, Gurri could receive up to $100,000 for each year he spent imprisoned on a wrongful conviction, according to court documents. That means the state could owe him more than $3.2 million. Bondy said the certificate would only require an acknowledgement that Gurri was wrongfully convicted, and does not require a judge or jury to find that misconduct occurred.

‘They took all those years’

Gurri, who was previously identified in news articles as Carlos Gurry, was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after his case was dropped in 2023 and held in detention for a year before he was released. Gurri applied for asylum from his birthplace of Cuba, which he fled in 1987 after participating in anti-government protests. He was instead granted “withholding of removal status,” meaning he could be deported if the political climate in Cuba changes or relations improve between the country and the U.S.

Thursday’s lawsuit also alleges that an unnamed person in the district attorney’s office contacted ICE when Gurri was set to be released in 2023, which is why he spent another year in custody.

“This action was taken out of animus and with the improper purpose of punishing Mr. Gurri despite the State’s acknowledgement that it did not possess the evidence it needed to proceed with prosecution,” attorneys wrote in the lawsuit.

Gurri told the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Friday that he is relieved a civil case has been opened. He said officials “need to answer” for imprisoning him for a crime he did not commit.

“They took all those years from me,” he said. “There’s no way I can get all that back.”

Other defendants in the lawsuit include the Metropolitan Police Department and Clark County, which declined to comment.

‘Intentionally withheld’ information

The lawsuit also was filed against Edward Preciado-Nuno, a former FBI agent who interrogated Gurri in the aftermath of the bank robbery, and who testified against him during the 1991 trial. Attorneys alleged that prosecutors relied heavily on his testimony to prove their case against Gurri.

According to the lawsuit, Preciado-Nuno did not record his interviews with Gurri, which were conducted in a mix of Spanish and English without a Spanish interpreter. Attorneys wrote that Preciado-Nuno used “aggressive and coercive” tactics, including slapping Gurri and grabbing him by the throat, in an attempt to “intimidate and extract a false or involuntary confession.”

Preciado-Nuno’s testimony during Gurri’s trial was used to argue that Gurri was lying about his whereabouts during the day the robbery happened, disputing witnesses who supported Gurri’s timeline of events, according to the lawsuit.

Years later, Preciado-Nuno was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the 2008 killing of his son’s girlfriend. The conviction came after a trial in which prosecutors accused him of manipulating the crime scene.

Attorneys wrote in Thursday’s lawsuit that Preciado-Nuno’s testimony in his own trial called into question his testimony against Gurri, “further establishing that no credible evidence existed to convict Mr. Gurri.”

The lawsuit also alleges that prosecutors “intentionally withheld critical information” about District Judge Jack Lehman’s conflict of interest. Lehman, who died in 2017, oversaw the original trial but also was investigated by Bailey over a questionable land deal that happened when Lehman was a member of the Colorado River Commission.

Documents show that the FBI was concerned about the potential conflict of interest, and prosecutors told federal authorities they would disclose the information to defense attorneys, according to the lawsuit. But the defense was never told, and the conflict of interest was not made known until years later.

Bondy, one of Gurri’s attorneys, said these types of civil rights cases against law enforcement agencies can be difficult to litigate. But Gurri’s case contains egregious examples of misconduct by the district attorney’s office, she said.

She said prosecutors showed a “focus on maintaining convictions rather than complying with their duties to ensure that justice is being carried out, and that we’re not framing innocent people.”

Gurri’s case is not the first time someone with an overturned conviction has pursued damages from state law enforcement agencies. In December, a federal jury awarded Kirstin “Blaise” Lobato more than $34 million in damages after finding that Metro detectives fabricated evidence against her in a 2001 murder. That was after she received a certificate of innocence and settled a state wrongful conviction complaint for $900,000.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240.