Judge refuses to dismiss Mack murder case

RENO -- A judge refused Friday to dismiss murder charges against Darren Mack because of what the defense called "outrageous misconduct" by District Attorney Richard Gammick.

But Judge Douglas Herndon said Gammick's decision to discuss Mack's alleged confession after it was ruled inadmissible might force the trial to be moved from Reno.

Gammick called a news conference June 5 after Herndon threw out telephone calls between Gammick and Mack, taped when Mack was on the run in Mexico after the murder of his estranged wife and the shooting of the family court judge who was handling their divorce.

The judge also rejected Mack's alleged confession to the crime.

Gammick lashed out angrily at the judge's decision. The Washoe County district attorney called defense attorneys Scott Freeman and David Chesnoff liars and referred to their case as garbage.

Chesnoff argued Friday that Gammick had "deliberately infected" the pool of potential jurors in the Reno area.

"I think it's an infection that can't be cured," he said.

Herndon rejected the motion to dismiss the charges against Mack and said it would be premature to order a change of venue before prospective jurors had been questioned.

"It's Washoe County's case, and I believe very strongly it should stay here," Herndon said.

But he added, "I think this is going to be a substantial issue on whether we can try the case here. There are things that chip away at any case. This is a big chip."

Herndon is hearing the case on assignment from Las Vegas after all of Washoe County's judges were disqualified because Mack is charged with the sniper-style shooting of Family Court Judge Chuck Weller, who had been handling Mack's divorce case. Weller was shot June 12, 2006, the same day Mack's wife, Charla Mack, was found stabbed to death. Weller was shot in the chest but since has recovered.

Darren Mack fled, but surrendered 11 days later in Mexico after talking with Gammick, a longtime friend of the Mack family.

Gammick taped the phone calls, but the tapes were suppressed by Herndon because they were recorded without a court order or Mack's consent. Gammick argued unsuccessfully that since the FBI was involved in the case, federal law should apply and Mack's consent was not needed. Herndon ruled out the alleged confession because Gammick did not tell Mack he had legal representation.

Gammick has since recused himself from the case because of his association with Mack and his family and has agreed to make no more statements about the case.

In a motion for dismissal, Chesnoff and Freeman said Gammick "flagrantly, blatantly and purposefully engaged in outrageous misconduct (that) violated his legal and professional responsibilities as a district attorney."

Herndon was more restrained in his criticism of Gammick.

In underscoring his opposition to moving the case, Herndon noted that a Washoe County panel would be a jury of Mack's peers, and he noted the victim's family also lives in the Reno area.

He also agreed with prosecutors that Gammick said little at his news conference that hadn't already come up in court.