Death penalty primer

Judges in Nevada, particularly in Clark County, might want to clear their June 2 calendar to listen to a free Webcast on the death penalty sponsored by the Bureau of Justice Assistance.

With a frightening number of men currently in the Clark County Detention Center waiting to learn if the state will seek the ultimate punishment against them, or are already eligible, the timing is perfect.

And since half of all death verdicts are reversed in federal habeas proceedings, judges would be well advised to spend a couple of hours learning what to do at trial -- and more important, what not to do.

Here's a sampling of Clark County's who's who of death penalty candidates: Saul Williams Jr. and Prentice Marshall, accused of killing off-duty policeman Trevor Nettleton on Nov. 19; Harold Montague, accused of chopping up a baby, horribly disfiguring the infant's mother and stabbing a severely disabled relative; Richard Freeman and Gregory Hover, reportedly involved in a savage home invasion that left one man dead and his wife shot and in the rape and murder of 21-year-old Prisma Contreras; and finally, Will Onie Sitton, who is alleged to have murdered 68-year-old Brian Haskell.

There's more, and with 86 people already on Nevada's death row ... well, you get the picture. At this rate, every judge in Clark County, even those that judge a chili contest, might preside over a death penalty case at one point or another. It is important they understand the intricacies behind state-sanctioned executions.

Read the particulars here.