Week in Review: Top News, May 19
The O.J. show returned to a Las Vegas courtroom last week, as the notorious former pro football star tried to win a new trial in connection with a Sept. 13, 2007, armed robbery in a Palace Station hotel room.
Sporting graying hair, bloodshot eyes and quite a few extra pounds, the 65-year-old Simpson took the stand Wednesday to testify that his Miami-based lawyer, Yale Galanter, misadvised, misled and lied to him.
Simpson is serving a nine- to 33-year sentence in a Nevada prison, but he argues that he went to Palace Station to recover his own family heirlooms and photographs.
Galanter rebutted his former client’s claims during testimony Friday.
It will be up to Judge Linda Bell to decide who is telling the truth and determine whether Simpson deserves a new trial.
Monday
Harris: I’m not guilty
The suspect in the Feb. 21 Strip shooting and car crash that left three people dead pleaded not guilty at his arraignment.
Initially, Ammar Harris said he wanted to plead guilty in his capital murder case, but he reversed course after speaking to his defense attorney.
Prosecutors say he shot and killed reputed pimp Kenneth “Kenny Clutch” Cherry Jr. as the two were driving separate vehicles. The shooting caused Cherry to crash his car into a taxicab, killing driver Michael Boldon and passenger Sandra Sutton-Wasmund.
Tuesday
Suen suit nets millions
A jury awarded Hong Kong businessman Richard Suen $70 million for the consulting work he did a dozen years ago to help Las Vegas Sands Corp. enter the booming Macau market.
The jury reached its decision after starting deliberations late Friday afternoon but not working over the weekend. The majority of the panel wanted to award Suen about $125 million, but settled on the lower figure to draw in the nine jurors needed for a decision in a civil case.
The verdict was challenged four minutes after it was read.
Wednesday
Whittemore on trial
A federal prosecutor said Harvey Whittemore chose to “break the law” rather than break a promise to raise campaign money for U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, as the trial got underway for the former Nevada power broker.
Whittemore faces charges of violating campaign finance laws. Prosecutors said he unlawfully used roughly 29 family members and employees as conduits to funnel more than $130,000 to the Reid campaign.
Thursday
Getting back to work
Nevada and Las Vegas went from labor pains to labor gains in April, as the workforce grew and unemployment fell.
From March to April, the Las Vegas labor pool grew by 1,200, to 993,600 workers, according to state figures. Statewide, 1,800 people joined the workforce for a total of 1.38 million.
Nevada’s jobless rate slid to 9.6 percent, down from 9.7 percent in March and 11.5 percent in April 2012. Joblessness in Las Vegas also came in at 9.6 percent, down from 9.8 percent in March and 11.3 percent a year earlier.
Friday
Explosion kills worker
A man died when a tanker-trailer exploded and blew a hole in the roof of a privately owned truck repair business next to Nellis Air Force Base.
Firefighters responded to the explosion at Nevada Truck and Trailer Repair at 4915 Sloan Lane and quickly doused the flames. The building also has a fueling site for fleet vehicles.
The facility is about 400 yards from the base’s fuel tank farm, where jet fuel is stored.
The dead man wasn’t immediately identified, but a company official confirmed he was an employee of the business.
By the Numbers$20 million
How much a group of Summerlin investors paid for the Las Vegas 51s, increasing the chances that the 30-year-old minor league team could move to the suburbs.
13
The number of days early Las Vegas experienced its first triple-digit temperature with Monday’s high of 102. In an average year, the mercury doesn’t hit 100 until May 26.
69
How many more days with highs in the 100s we can expect this year, based on the average since 1981.
$20 million
The size of the National Science Foundation grant recently awarded to the Nevada System of Higher Education to study solar energy production in the desert.
Quotes
“He knew he had screwed up. He knew there were guns in the room.”
Yale Galanter, former lawyer for O.J. Simpson testifying Friday about his client’s role in a 2007 armed robbery at Palace Station. Simpson is now trying to win a new trial based on claims that Galanter misled and misrepresented him.
“He could choose to break his promise to Reid or he could choose to break the law. And he chose to break the law.”
Steven Myhre, a federal prosecutor, talking about Nevada power broker Harvey Whittemore, now on trial in connection with inappropriate campaign contributions to his friend U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
“He was a Belgian gold mine scam artist.”
Chuck Muth, conservative activist, talking about the namesake of Frenchman Mountain on the east side of the valley. Muth is pushing to have Frenchman’s peak named Mount Reagan in honor of the 40th president.
“There was no provocation for it. This is unwarranted childhood violence with guns.”
Ray Steiber, Las Vegas police homicide lieutenant, talking about the shooting death of 17-year-old Betty “Jay” Pinkney. Police last week announced the arrest of Demetrius Black in connection with the shooting, which happened at a house party in January 2012.
“If he was stupid enough to pull that little gun and point it at them, it was going to happen.”
A roommate, who declined to give his name, talking about a man shot by Las Vegas police Thursday after the man reportedly brandished a pellet gun made to look like a Colt .45 semi-automatic pistol.
