Former commissioner’s son indicted

Las Vegas police arrested Atkinson Turner, 24, and his wife, Kathryn O’Gara, 25, on child endangerment and drug charges in August, alleging that they found feces on the walls, a stash of marijuana, a marijuana growing setup and a refrigerator containing no edible food except yogurt at the couple’s home just east of the Southern Highlands Golf Club.

O’Gara’s defense attorney, Andrew Leavitt, said the couple will plead not guilty to the charges at an arraignment Oct. 17.

“They’re 100 percent innocent,” he said.

He plans to file a motion in about two weeks to dismiss the case, arguing police entered the home illegally.

Police said they went to 11799 Hugana Place after a 911 caller followed a black Mercedes sedan to the house. The caller said a toddler in the car was not buckled up and the car was being driven erratically and had hit a pole in a gas station parking lot, according to the police report.

Police said that because they were concerned about the welfare of the child, they entered through an unlocked back door after no one answered them at the locked front door. They believed the woman who had been driving the Mercedes was intoxicated, according to a police report.

In addition to taking note of the feces in the house, officers said they found a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun under the bed in the master bedroom and a handgun on the floorboard of the Mercedes. They said they also found a marijuana pipe on the night- stand and pot in the closet.

Leavitt said the police account is false, particularly the description of the unkempt house. “It was dog feces and there wasn’t a lot of it. It’s about the same thing you find in anyone’s house that has a dog indoors,” he said.

Leavitt also said police entered the house illegally, stuck a gun in O’Gara’s face while she held her 2-year-old and then waited hours for a search warrant. Her husband came home before the warrant arrived and was also handcuffed and forced to wait, Leavitt said.

“By the time they got the search warrant they had already searched the entire house,” he said.

Leavitt said the toddler, who was taken to Child Haven by Clark County Child Protective Services, is now living with Atkinson Turner’s aunt and the couple have flexible visitation rights.

Atkinson Turner and O’Gara are facing one count each of child neglect in connection with the living conditions at the home, conspiracy to violate the controlled substance act, possession of controlled substance with intent to sell and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Because authorities allege O’Gara had failed to buckle her daughter into a child car seat and was driving in an unsafe manner with an unsecured loaded firearm in the car, she is facing one additional count of child neglect.

The two will remain free, having each posted $11,400 bail.

Atkinson Turner’s mother also has been the subject of a Las Vegas police investigation this year. During the 2004 campaign cycle, Atkinson Gates paid her son and O’Gara and their company, Advibe Advertising, $407,343 from her campaign funds. In mid-April, authorities said that months earlier an investigation had been launched into whether Atkinson Gates got kickbacks from that money.

The former commissioner has never been charged, and District Attorney David Roger declined to comment Wednesday on whether there is an ongoing investigation.

Leavitt said no one has approached him or his client since the August arrest about cooperating with an investigation into the former commissioner in exchange for a more lenient plea deal.

“I don’t think there’s anything Yvonne Atkinson Gates did wrong. Even if she did, there is nothing either one of these individuals could say or contribute to that case,” Leavitt said.

District Judge Donald Mosley is scheduled to preside over Atkinson Turner and O’Gara’s case. His courtroom is four floors below the courtroom of Judge Gates. It was unclear Wednesday whether the district attorney might move to limit Gates’ authority over criminal cases involving county prosecutors while his stepson’s case proceeds to trial.

“We haven’t given that one much thought so we’ll evaluate the situation and take the appropriate action,” Roger said.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Brian Rutledge, the prosecutor assigned to Atkinson Turner and O’Gara’s case, said he currently has no cases in Gates’ courtroom.

Judge Gates declined to comment.