Las Vegas jail inmate appeals sentence imposed while lawyer was handcuffed

The Clark County public defender’s office is appealing a sentence imposed on a man who was sent to jail while his attorney sat handcuffed in Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Conrad Hafen’s courtroom.

Deputy Public Defender Zohra Bakhtary tried to argue on May 23 that Daniel Fernandez, 29, should not be put behind bars, but Hafen already had told her to “be quiet.”

After Bakhtary proceeded to interject, the judge ordered a court marshal to place her in handcuffs. The judge then sent Fernandez to jail for six months.

Surveillance video of the hearing, which had no audio, showed Fernandez standing alone at a defense table while Bakhtary was escorted out of the camera view and was forced to sit silently alongside the jury box.

“If we don’t hold people accountable, everybody laughs at the system,” Hafen told the defendant, according to court transcripts. “They find it to be a joke because judges just keep giving chance after chance after chance. That doesn’t happen in this courtroom. People are held accountable.”

Fernandez had admitted stealing 15 pieces of clothing from the Macy’s department store at Fashion Show Mall in October.

Deputy Public Defender Nancy Lemcke, who filed the appeal, said the judge deprived Fernandez of counsel at a crucial moment in his case.

The judge ordered Bakhtary released from the handcuffs after about three minutes, declaring that she had “learned a lesson.”

Public Defender Phil Kohn said the crux of Fernandez’s appeal is his Six Amendment right to an attorney.

“Is he truly being represented? Does he really have counsel when his lawyer is not at counsel table and is in handcuffs?” Kohn said. “That’s the real issue.”

By the time the appeal comes before District Judge Rob Bare, Fernandez will have served nearly a month behind bars. His lawyers are expected to seek an expedited ruling.

“We don’t want it moot,” Kohn said. “We don’t want it after the sentence has run.”

In an “order for summary punishment” filed four days after Bakhtary was handcuffed, Hafen laid out his reasoning for the action.

The judge said Bakhtary displayed “disorderly, contemptuous or insolent behavior” and that he had “asked defense counsel on numerous times/occasions to not interrupt” him while he was issuing his decision.

Hafen found that she “demeaned the court,” “derogated the authority of the court,” and “interfered with the orderly administration of justice.”

Bakhtary has said that she was not trying to argue with the judge and “did not act unprofessionally.”

Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Find @randompoker on Twitter.