Strip shooting suspect pleads not guilty in murder case
After first saying he wanted to plead guilty in his capital murder case, Strip shooting suspect Ammar Harris reversed course at his arraignment Monday and pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Harris, 27, was closely surrounded by three officers as he appeared before District Judge Kathleen Delaney in Las Vegas.
The defendant, wearing glasses and speaking softly, first pleaded not guilty to charges in an unrelated sexual assault case and asked for a speedy trial.
Deputy Special Public Defender David Schieck then asked the judge to hold a competency hearing for Harris, a self-proclaimed pimp, before allowing him to enter his pleas in the triple murder case.
Schieck said the defendant planned to plead guilty against the advice of counsel and “needs to be evaluated by a mental health expert.”
Harris “may not be completely understanding of the defenses that are available to him,” the defense attorney said.
The judge then moved the matter to the end of her morning calendar to give Schieck and his client more time to talk.
Defendants rarely plead guilty during the early stages of serious criminal cases, before their attorneys have had a chance to review all the evidence or negotiate a plea bargain. That is especially true in capital murder cases.
When Harris later returned to the courtroom, he said he had changed his mind about pleading guilty. He said his lawyer had explained that pleading guilty would require him to lie to the judge.
Harris, who said he went to school through the 11th grade, proceeded to plead not guilty to all charges in the murder case. Again, he asked for a speedy trial.
Schieck said he and his client wanted the murder case to be tried after the sexual assault case. The trial in the sexual assault case had been scheduled for July 8.
The defense attorney said his client understood that a conviction in the sexual assault case could be used against him during the penalty phase of the murder case, if he is also convicted in that case.
Delaney then scheduled the murder trial for Sept. 9.
Outside the courtroom, Schieck made this statement when asked about Harris’ comments to the judge:
“In order to plead guilty, you have to admit all of the allegations in the indictment, and not all of the allegations are correct.”
Schieck later added, “There’s a lot of facts in this case that still have to come out. All of those facts have to be developed and presented. There are legal defenses to some of the charges.”
Harris was indicted last month on nearly a dozen charges in the murder case. Prosecutors say he shot and killed reputed pimp Kenneth “Kenny Clutch” Cherry Jr. as the two were driving separate vehicles on the Strip early on the morning of Feb. 21.
The shooting caused Cherry to crash his car into a taxicab, which burst into flames, killing the driver, Michael Boldon, and his passenger, Sandra Sutton-Wasmund of Maple Valley, Wash.
“At least two of the deaths were the result of an unforeseen accident and not due to any malicious intent by Mr. Harris,” Schieck said after the arraignment.
In the sexual assault case, Harris is accused of raping and robbing an 18-year-old woman in June 2010.
After the Strip shooting, Harris fled Las Vegas, sparking a multistate manhunt. He was arrested in Southern California on Feb. 28 and fought extradition to Las Vegas for nearly six weeks.
Authorities said he tried to escape from custody during his extradition.
Contact reporter Carri Geer Thevenot at cgeer@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710.
