District attorney finds cop’s kicking incident troubling, familiar

Charging and convicting a cop of beating a criminal suspect isn't easy, but it can be done even in Southern Nevada. And newly appointed District Attorney Steve Wolfson knows it.

Wolfson recently said he declined to press for charges against Henderson police Sgt. Brett Seekatz, in part, because too much time had elapsed since the night of Oct. 29, 2010, when the cop was captured on videotape repeatedly kicking a defenseless motorist in the head. Wolfson has also acknowledged that convicting police officers can be very challenging.

The Seekatz incident led to a civil settlement of nearly $300,000 with motorist Adam Greene and his wife and precipitated the forced retirement of Henderson Police Chief Jutta Chambers. So far, Seekatz hasn't lost his rank or his job, much less been charged with excessive force.

The Seekatz mess occurred before Wolfson was sworn in as the county's top prosecutor Feb. 21, but at least a few details of the police beating must have seemed familiar to our new district attorney.

Back in 1995, Metro Sgt. James Campbell and officers Robert Phelan and Brian Nicholson were charged with using excessive force in the arrest at the Fremont hotel and casino downtown of a petty thief named Andrew Dersch. Dersch was a crackhead who specialized in stealing coin cups and purses from little old lady slot players.

See if this sounds familiar: Back then, the cops' defense was challenged by the presence of a damning videotape. Although the Fremont casino security video was less than conclusive, its audio captured the cops' threats and Dersch's cries.

The officers were convicted in 1996, but a mistrial was declared. They later pleaded no contest to gross misdemeanor charges that they conspired to assault Dersch. Fired by the department, the cops expected no jail time as part of the plea agreement. But District Judge Lee Gates surprised them in November 1997 by sentencing Campbell and Nicholson to nine months, and Phelan to six months.

The name of Nicholson's attorney should ring a bell.

It was Steve Wolfson.

"Even on that case it was difficult to get convictions, and then we had a mistrial," Wolfson recalled Thursday after I helped jog his memory. "These cases, historically going back many years, are difficult to prove."

Difficult, but not impossible, as Wolfson knows.

"I'm very troubled by these kinds of cases," Wolfson said.

But is he troubled enough to reconsider the Seekatz matter in light of a recent Review-Journal story detailing the Henderson cop's previous trouble?

As a matter of fact, he is.

Around the time of the Greene incident, Seekatz also generated complaints accusing him of falsifying a police report in a domestic dispute and of lying under oath in a misdemeanor case. Neither complaint was substantiated by Henderson police, which in light of the way officials handled the kicking case isn't the least surprising.

"Some new information has come out about officer Seekatz, and it's troubling to me," Wolfson said. "I'm exploring some of this information, and it could make a difference in the future."

While it's possible Wolfson didn't initially get a comprehensive briefing on Seekatz's background, I've learned the district attorney recently ordered and received the cop's complete file from HPD.

"The fact he's been accused in other cases of lying, and that it occurred around a similar time frame as the situation in Henderson caused me to step back," Wolfson said. "I'm considering a second look into this matter."

Due to the fact more than a year has passed and the victim showed no interest in pressing charges against the officer, Seekatz can't be charged with a misdemeanor. Could Greene's broken ribs be enough to warrant a felony battery charge?

A second look still might not result in a criminal charge being filed against the kick-happy Henderson cop, but Wolfson knows the community is watching the case closely.

John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Email him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call 702-383-0295. He also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/smith.