Witness recants testimony on assault

The attempted sexual assault case against the owner of a courthouse counseling service suffered a setback Wednesday, as prosecutors agreed to investigate the defense's claim that the victim recanted her testimony.

Steven Brox and his company, United States Justice Associates, are targets in a separate criminal investigation into allegations the company sold fraudulent certificates stating clients had completed counseling programs.

At a brief hearing in the sex case, District Judge David Wall denied a defense request to dismiss the charges against Brox, but the judge said the victim's latest videotaped statement merits further investigation before the Oct. 4 trial. He said the change in testimony will help the defense at trial.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Lisa Luzaich told the judge she would look into the matter, but afterward she questioned why the witness, Brox's 17-year-old niece, didn't come to her first with her recantations.

Luzaich said prosecutors often have to deal with victims who are reluctant to testify in such cases.

Brox, 45, is facing felony and gross misdemeanor charges stemming from the encounter with his niece, who was 15 at the time. The attempted sexual assault allegedly occurred at Brox's home on Dec. 27, 2008, but it wasn't reported to police until eight months later after the girl's mother learned about it.

In a videotaped interview with a private investigator for the defense, the niece said she lied on the witness stand at Brox's preliminary hearing last year. Her testimony had helped persuade a justice of the peace to bind Brox over for trial.

Shedding tears throughout the half-hour interview, the niece told the private investigator, Robert Lawson, that she made up the allegations in an attempt to gain sympathy from her boyfriend to keep him from breaking up with her. She denied any family pressure to change her story.

Brox was a familiar courthouse face, for years running United States Justice Associates, which helped people charged with crimes get through the justice system.

The company, which closed after Las Vegas police began investigating its business dealings, was one of several that offered counseling programs for court-ordered alcohol and drug abuse, AIDS awareness, anger management and petty larceny to those charged with misdemeanors. In April, police raided Brox's home and the law office of defense lawyer Brian Bloomfield, who did business with Brox, looking for evidence in the phony certificates scheme.

That investigation has not yet resulted in any charges.

Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135 or read more courts coverage at lvlegalnews.com.