Plea deal rejected for man accused of killing Las Vegas mother in crash
A Las Vegas judge discarded a plea deal Tuesday that included no jail time for a man accused of reckless driving in a crash that killed a mother of four.
Justice of the Peace Joe Bonaventure said it was the first time he could remember refusing to follow plea negotiations. He did so after members of the victim’s family told him they had not been asked by authorities about how the suspect should be punished.
“Family members in cases like this should always be consulted,” the judge said before rejecting the defendant’s no-contest plea and setting the case for a preliminary hearing.
Gerardo Lopez, who was 39 at the time of his arrest, faces a felony charge of reckless driving in connection with the March 5 death of Jessica Fodge. The 31-year-old mother had just walked her children to school and was on a sidewalk when a Chevrolet Trax ran a red light, made a wide turn, drove into the sidewalk and hit her, according to her family and police.
At the start of Tuesday’s hearing, defense attorney Kevin Coburn said Lopez would plead no contest to a count of vehicular manslaughter and a count of reckless driving, both misdemeanors. Lopez also would agree to surrender his driver’s license and would receive a suspended jail sentence.
Before hearing from the victim’s family, Bonaventure said he would accept the no-contest plea and enter a finding of guilt.
Lopez previously faced a DUI charge, but it was denied by prosecutors. Deputy District Attorney Suzanne Rorhus said there was no evidence that he was impaired at the time of the crash.
‘He should go to jail’
The defendant, who is not in custody, was seated in a wheelchair when he appeared in court Tuesday. Coburn told the judge his client did not want to address the court. The attorney said after the hearing that Lopez was not in a wheelchair because of the crash but because he has a pre-existing physical disability.
Heather Smith, one of Fodge’s sisters, told the judge she has trouble understanding the circumstances of the crash.
“I was told there were no drugs involved, there was no alcohol involved,” she said. “And for whatever reason, this person decided to go around traffic, run through a red light and hit and killed my sister.”
She objected to the plea deal, saying the agreed-upon sentence meant Lopez would be “slapped on the wrist.”
Fodge’s sister Hollie Smith also was upset about the suspended sentence.
“He should go to jail for that and sit there and think about what happened,” she told the judge. “I don’t care if it was intentional or not. The punishment should fit the crime.”
Another sister, China Fodge, said she hoped a higher power would touch Bonaventure’s heart in making his decision about what would happen to Lopez.
“I just want to be absolutely clear: None of you were consulted with what the appropriate punishment or negotiations would be?” the judge asked Fodge’s family. The victim’s sisters answered no.
Rorhus said attorneys made negotiations before she was involved.
“It’s been discussed with the family, although they never agreed to it, have never supported it,” the prosecutor said in court.
Rorhus said the family spoke to Yu Meng, a prosecutor who recently left the district attorney’s office. She acknowledged the deal was unsatisfying.
“It is a grossly inadequate solution to a problem that has no solution,” she said.
Rorhus said notes indicated that Meng spoke to the victim’s father. Meng said in a brief phone interview after the hearing that he did not think he handled the negotiations in Lopez’s case.
But, he said, “I always call the family.”
Fodge’s sisters were pleased with the judge’s decision.
Hollie Smith said she was surprised he refused to follow the plea agreement but that she could tell he listened to the family.
“We were not going to let them turn this into an open-and-shut case,” she said.
‘Back to square one’
Coburn said he had never had a judge toss a plea deal in one of his cases before.
“We’re back to square one,” he said.
Bonaventure’s decision means Lopez’s no-contest plea has been withdrawn, the defense attorney said, and the case is set for a Sept. 2 preliminary hearing. Coburn expects it will be resolved by then.
“If you come back to me and tell me it’s the same negotiation even if the family tells me they’re not happy with it, I’ll go along with it,” Bonaventure said. “But I need them to be fully informed of this.”
Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X.