Inmate’s appeal alleging coercion denied

A Clark County judge has denied the appeal of a state prison inmate who claims his attorney coerced him into pleading guilty to a stolen vehicle charge two years ago.

Darryl Cone, 47, is serving up to 10 years in the Southern Desert Correctional Center on a 2006 conviction.

Before pleading guilty, Cone complained in several court filings that contract public defender Paul Wommer threatened to work with prosecutors to convict him if Cone didn't accept a plea agreement. Cone said he reluctantly took a deal on the day of his trial.

Cone was one of several defendants who lodged similar complaints against Wommer from mid-2005 to mid-2006.

Wommer said he was trying to help Cone avoid an even longer prison sentence.

After a post-conviction hearing earlier this month, District Judge Ken Cory on Thursday ruled that Wommer had represented Cone adequately.

Cory found "insufficient evidence to prove that Mr. Wommer's performance fell below an objective standard of reasonableness."

Robert Glennen, Cone's current attorney, said he planned to appeal the ruling to the Nevada Supreme Court.

"We have to charge on and take the next step," Glennen said.

Cone's case was profiled last year in a Review-Journal series that highlighted problems with a system for assigning private attorneys to many indigent defendants.

That system has since been overhauled, and Wommer and some other contract defenders profiled in the series did not receive contract renewals.

Contact reporter Alan Maimon at amaimon@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0404.