Defendant’s murder plea rejected

Raven Navajo refused to change out of her navy blue jail jumpsuit and into civilian attire for what was supposed to have been the first day of her murder trial Tuesday.

Instead, Navajo went before District Judge Lee Gates and tried -- hard -- to plead guilty to first-degree murder. But Gates refused to accept the 43-year-old transgendered defendant's plea.

Prosecutors offered to let her plead guilty to a lesser offense of second-degree murder, which would be punishable by a sentence of 15 years to life in prison. But Navajo rejected the deal because, she said, she wanted the harshest punishment possible.

Navajo told the court that after meeting 45-year-old Brenda Schmalfeldt for the first time at a bar on Jan. 13 and discussing Schmalfeldt's boyfriend problems, the two went to Navajo's home.

Navajo recalled how she believed Schmalfeldt, a New York-New York cocktail waitress, stole $500 from her. She said she hit her in the head to prevent her from leaving the house.

Navajo said she was drunk but remembered punching Schmalfeldt in the face in her garage, but then blacked out.

Four hours later, Navajo regained consciousness on the couch. She left Schmalfeldt's body in her garage for four days, then put her in the trunk of her car and dumped her body in a garbage bin, she said.

Prosecutor David Stanton added for the court record the fact that Navajo's roommates saw her after the murder on the couch in a red negligee, indicating Navajo had the "presence of mind" to clean herself up after what evidence would have shown to be a significantly bloody murder in the garage.

Miffed at Stanton's additions to her confession, Navajo told the court, "I just read a statement pleading guilty to murder in the first-degree -- I am pretty sure that is the biggest one I can get -- and I begged you for the worst sentence. So I don't understand why Mr. Stanton is playing trial here."

Gates said there seemed to be a lack of premeditation and deliberation, necessary elements of first-degree murder, because Navajo said she blacked out during most of the attack.

"I beat her until she died. Something tells me (that even) in my stupor I had some sort of deliberation," Navajo retorted.

She said she was a recovering alcoholic who was sober for 11 years before she began drinking again three years ago. She said she knew she could be violent and had the potential to kill when she blacked out.

She had given a similar confession to police after she turned herself in.

"I have tried to do the right thing twice now and wording is getting in my way," Navajo said.

Prior to Navajo's plea, her public defender, Andrea Luem, strenuously objected to Navajo's quest for a first-degree murder conviction and appeared frustrated with her client.

Navajo tried to comfort her and gave another reason why she didn't want the case to go to trial.

"I would have had to get dressed and put make up on me everyday, and it would have killed me," said Navajo, who has been in the county jail and without such habitual fineries for the past nine months.

"Whether I was sober or drunk off my ass, I killed her," Navajo said.

Luem told Gates she had experts and witnesses, including three bartenders, lined up to testify that Navajo was extremely drunk the night she took Schmalfeldt home. Navajo was walking into walls at Zodies, the bar on Flamingo Road near Pecos Road where she met Schmalfeldt, Luem said.

"The intent to kill is negated by her consumption of alcohol," Luem said.

"We'll just go to trial," Gates told Navajo, "and let a jury decide what you're guilty of."

He said he sees defendants "all the time" who try to plead guilty to crimes they never committed.

"You've got to follow the law and I've got to follow my conscience," Navajo told him. "I don't know which one should take precedence."

Gates answered: "The law."

Navajo was led back to her cell, and her trial was rescheduled for January.

After the hearing, the prosecutor said he had never witnessed anything like it.

A friend of Schmalfeldt's family, who did not want to be identified, said the victim's relatives were satisfied with the district attorney's plea deal of second-degree murder but would have preferred that Navajo had gotten her way. The friend said she hopes Navajo fires Luem, whom Gates appointed to represent her, and ultimately succeeds in her endeavor to spend the rest of her life behind bars.

Contact reporter K.C. Howard at khoward@reviewjournal.com or (702) 380-1039.