Las Vegas murder conviction overturned; jury selection problem cited

By SEAN WHALEY LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

11 years ago

Charles Conner, center, looks back towards his attorney Andrea Luem as she speaks to court bailiffs in Clark County District Court on Wednesday, July 21, 2010, shortly before the reading of the verdict during his trial in connection with the 1985 death of Air Force Airman Beth Lynn Jardine. Conner, who was found guilty by the jury, was arrested after DNA evidence linked him to the cold case rape and murder of Jardine. (JASON BEAN/LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL)

Charles Ross Conner is shown in a 1985 Las Vegas police booking mug after he was arrested for robbery. Conner was arrested Tuesday, March 20, 2007, by Denton County, Ark., authorities on a warrant issued by Las Vegas police in connection with the June 1985 slaying of Airman second class Beth Lynn Jardine. Conner was connected to the bludgeoning death of the 23-year-old Jardine through recent DNA testing. Jardine was stationed at Nellis Air Force Base and lived in a northeastern Las Vegas apartment at the time of her death. (Courtesy, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department)

Charles Ross Conner was arrested Tuesday, March 20, 2007, by Denton County, Ark., authorities on a warrant issued by Las Vegas police in connection with the June 1985 slaying of Airman second class Beth Lynn Jardine. Conner was connected to the bludgeoning death of the 23-year-old Jardine through recent DNA testing. Jardine was stationed at Nellis Air Force Base and lived in a northeastern Las Vegas apartment at the time of her death. (Courtesy, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department)

Charles Conner appears in Clark County District Court on June 30, 2010, for his trial in connection with the June 1985 sexual assault and slaying of Beth Lynn Jardine. Police found a DNA match to Conner when they revisited the cold case killing. (GARY THOMPSON/LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL)

Charles Conner listens in Clark County District Court on Tuesday July 20, 2010, to the testimony from Las Vegas police Detective Kevin Manning during the penalty phase of his trial in connection with a cold case murder trial. Conner confessed to the sexual assault and killing of U.S. Air Force Airman 2nd Class Beth Lynn Jardine in 1985, after DNA evidence linked him to the crime. (CRAIG L. MORAN/LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL)

Detective Kevin Manning testifies during the penalty phase of the Charles Conner Murder trial held at the Regional Justice Center Tuesday July 20, 2010. (CRAIG L. MORAN/LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL)

U.S. Air Force Airman Beth Lynn Jardine is shown in this undated courtesy photograph. Jardine, who was stationed at Nellis Air Force Base and lived in a Las Vegas apartment off the base, was raped and bludgeoned to death, June 1985. Las Vegas police recently reviewed the evidence and were able link the DNA from the crime scene to Charles Ross Conner of Denton County, Ark. (undated courtesy photo)

CARSON CITY — A 65-year-old Arkansas man convicted of committing a murder 29 years ago in Clark County had his death sentence and conviction reversed by the Nevada Supreme Court on Thursday.

A District Court jury in 2010 convicted Charles Conner of first-degree murder and two counts of sexual assault for raping and beating to death 23-year-old Beth Lynn Jardine with a claw hammer in 1985.

The Supreme Court in its opinion rejected Conner’s claims that there was insufficient evidence to support his convictions. But the court also found that an error was made during the jury selection process that required reversal. The court said that it was “more likely than not” that at least one black prospective juror was rejected because of race.

“Even where, as here, there was sufficient evidence to sustain a conviction, that conviction cannot stand where the state engages in discriminatory jury selection,” Justice Michael Cherry wrote for the majority.

Clark County Public Defender Phil Kohn, who represented Conner, said the fact that his client is white is not the issue.

“The whole idea is we want a cross section of the community,” he said. “Every defendant has a right to a cross section of the community on a jury.”

The Clark County district attorney’s office could not be reached for comment on the decision.

Jardine’s murder had gone unsolved for 22 years before a Las Vegas cold case detective in 2007 matched DNA recovered from the crime scene with records from a national database. The DNA matched Conner, who was convicted in 1996 of raping and kidnapping a 10-year-old girl. He was arrested in 2007 in Arkansas.

On June 3, 1985, Jardine, an airman second class stationed at Nellis Air Force Base, was found nude and beaten to death in her northeast Las Vegas apartment by maintenance workers. Conner hit Jardine more than 20 times in the head, according to testimony from a county medical examiner.

Defense lawyers questioned the decision by the district attorney’s office to take the case to trial, since Conner had been willing to plead guilty to all charges and accept a life term with no opportunity for parole. His lawyers said that offer, rejected by prosecutors, would have had the same effect as the death penalty.

Contact Capital Bureau reporter Sean Whaley at swhaley@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3900. Find him on Twitter: @seanw801.