Defendant in tree cuttings called incapable of acts

Defense attorneys representing a Henderson man accused of chopping down more than 500 trees in his upscale neighborhood told jurors Monday that not only is Douglas Raymond Hoffman incapable of taking down trees, but he was out of town when many of the crimes occurred.

"You're not going to hear one word that he cut any of those trees," attorney Joseph Sciscento said. Hoffman, 59, faces seven felony counts and three gross misdemeanor counts of malicious destruction of trees on the land of another.

In its criminal complaint filed in March 2006, the district attorney's office claims Hoffman cut down or poisoned 546 trees, causing about $242,000 in damage. All the trees were in the Sun City Anthem community in Henderson.

As Henderson police investigated the vandalized trees between October 2004 and November 2005, prosecutor Josh Tomsheck said, they narrowed down their suspects.

"They came to believe the person was cutting down these trees to protect their view of the Las Vegas Strip," Tomsheck said, flashing a photograph of a concrete and stucco observation deck in Hoffman's backyard.

Tomsheck said Bill Edwards, an Anthem resident and retired Ventura County, Calif., sheriff, spotted a man wandering along Anthem Parkway in the early hours of Nov. 26, 2005. Edwards noticed freshly cut trees near the man who police say was Hoffman.

Edwards offered Hoffman a ride, but insisted on searching him before he hopped in the car. Edwards told police he found a saw packed in Hoffman's jacket.

Edwards took Hoffman to a nearby fire station, where they were met by police. Tomsheck said Hoffman tossed a pair of gardening gloves in the bathroom trash at the station.

Hoffman told police the gloves were to keep his hands warm, but he did not need them anymore. He said he found the saw during his walk and decided to keep it, Tomsheck said.

During a subsequent search of Hoffman's home, police found letters to Anthem officials complaining about the landscaping in the community.

But Sciscento told the jury that several Anthem homeowners had penned letters complaining of the landscaping. He explained that during the rash of tree-cuttings, residents reported seeing more than one person chopping the trees down.

He explained that Hoffman was disabled by a chemical leak when he served in the U.S. Navy in 1982. He also has had two hip replacements.

"You will hear testimony that he is physically unfit to cut down five hundred and something trees," Sciscento said.

He explained that Hoffman possesses receipts for prescriptions he had filled in Arizona on at least one day police claim he was chopping down trees.

Sciscento asked the jury not to read too much into the fact that Hoffman was out for a walk after midnight the night Edwards claims to have encountered him.

"Because he's in pain, because he can't sleep, he takes walks at night," the defense attorney said.