Jailed 6 years without a conviction, Vegas man rejects plea deal setting him free

He would have walked out of jail after six years.

But accepting a plea deal offered this week by the Clark County District Attorney's Office would have forced Warren McClinton to register as a sex offender and remain under police supervision for the rest of his life.

It was a deal McClinton, 50, would not take.

On the eve of his second trial on several sexual assault charges, prosecutors told McClinton, who has been held at the Clark County Detention Center since 2009 without being convicted, that they would allow him to plead guilty to one count of attempted sexual assault. They would agree to a maximum of 30 months of probation, but he would otherwise walk the streets a free man.

He called his mother, Zerlene Murrell, in Chicago and she advised him not to accept the proposal.

And before a hearing this week, when prosecutors laid out the details of the offer before District Judge Eric Johnson, McClinton spoke of his late grandmother.

"You know what she told me?" he said "'Do not let them get away with it if it kills you.' They're going to have to kill me."

In June, McClinton was acquitted of one count of sexual assault. Jurors deadlocked on several other charges. He and his mother know he risks being convicted of the remaining counts, which carry life terms, if he faces another jury, but McClinton says he won't confess to a crime he did not commit.

"You do have some recourse if you are convicted," Murrell later told the Review-Journal. "You can appeal, and he does have lots of reasons for an appeal."

McClinton told prosecutor Craig Hendricks: "I believe in the appeal process."

McClinton is adamant in his innocence, as are his lawyers, Tom Pitaro and Ozzie Fumo.

"Warren's defense is not based on a question of consent," Fumo said. "His defense is based on the fact that what (the victim) claims happened never occurred."

McClinton is being held on $130,000 bail, which his family cannot afford. He now faces three counts of sexual assault with a minor younger than 16, three counts of open or gross lewdness and one count of battery with intent to commit sexual assault in connection with allegations dating to August 2008. In 2009 a judge threw out an indictment because prosecutors failed to introduce certain evidence to a grand jury in a sexual assault case.

What they didn'€™t reveal: DNA from two other men was found on the victim'€™s bed sheets in her North Las Vegas home, where the crime was alleged to have occurred.

The 14-year-old girl was the only person who initially testified before the grand jury. When prosecutors went to the same grand jury a second time, they called the victim, her mother and a detective to testify. McClinton also took the stand.

The panel, which also heard the DNA evidence, deliberated for 30 minutes and refused to indict him.

But prosecutors quickly presented new charges to a judge, who ruled there was enough evidence for a trial.

When defense lawyers said they wanted to present the DNA evidence at McClinton's trial, prosecutors pointed to rape shield laws, which limit the ability of defendants to introduce evidence of a victim's sexual history.

Johnson ruled that jurors would not hear the DNA evidence.

Fumo and Pitaro have since asked the judge to allow the second jury to view that evidence.

Prosecutors argue that McClinton, who uses multiple aliases, four Social Security numbers and three dates of birth, is a flight risk. He's been charged in Nevada, Illinois and Virginia with various crimes, such as domestic battery, driving under the influence of alcohol and unlawful possession of a firearm.

Over the years, McClinton has fired nine attorneys who represented him in the sexual assault case, and that's part of the reason for the delay in moving forward. After the hung jury in June, Johnson said he wanted a swift retrial.

Shackled and wearing dark blue jail fatigues this week, McClinton was cordial with the judge, who responded in kind, though McClinton may have spoken more freely in court than his lawyers would have liked.

Johnson allowed McClinton to speak for nearly 20 minutes on Wednesday, and he offered a stack of documents he said would help prove his innocence. The judge promised he would read the papers.

In the end, with McClinton's rejection of offers from prosecutors, his fate will lie in the hands of 12 jurors. He must trust the system that has already held him behind bars for so long.

It's a gamble.

"One admires people who stand up for their principles," Pitaro said. "But in the lessons of history, sometimes they get hurt doing it."

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