Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 12, 2006 20:41:20 GMT -5
Prosecutors won't seek death penalty in Mack case
Prosecutors handling the case against Darren Mack, charged with murdering
his estranged wife, Charla, and shooting the judge handling their divorce,
announced Monday they will not seek the death penalty.
Clark County Assistant District Attorney Christopher Lalli said a review
committee met Monday and "this case was not selected to be a death penalty
case."
Lalli declined to say what factors stood out in determining appropriate
punishment, adding that "it's an exercise of prosecutorial discretion."
Soorya Townley, Charla's mother, said it was a difficult issue, but in the
end she agreed with the prosecutor's decision.
"I don't think it would be good for his children," she said. "For the
children's sake, it's for the best."
Mack's attorney, Scott Freeman, they were "very pleased" with the
decision.
"We didn't believe it was that type of case," Freeman said. "But it's very
good news. Now, we have the opportunity to proceed with the case and focus
on the arraignment Wednesday."
Mack is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday before visiting Clark County
District Judge Douglas Herndon in a courtroom in Washoe District Court. He
was appointed to the case after all of the region's judges were
disqualified.
Mack, 45, a wealthy Reno pawnshop owner, is accused of stabbing his
estranged wife, Charla, to death in the garage of his townhouse on June
12.
Prosecutors also say Mack left her body on the floor, drove to a downtown
parking garage across the river from the courthouse and shot Washoe
District Family Court Judge Chuck Weller as he stood in his 3rd-floor
chambers.
Weller was wounded in the chest, hospitalized and released. He returned to
work in mid-August.
Mack disappeared after the shooting and was the subject of an
international manhunt until he surrendered 11 days later in Mexico.
Under Nevada law, a person convicted of 1st-degree murder could face the
death penalty if one of 14 aggravating circumstances can be proved and no
mitigating circumstance outweighs the aggravators. A mitigating factor
might include a history of drug abuse, cooperation with authorities and
being abused as a child.
The list of aggravating circumstances includes murdering someone while in
prison, committing a murder in a way that threatens others, murdering
while escaping or avoiding arrest, hiring someone to kill another person,
killing a police officer, firefighter or someone younger than 14,
torturing or mutilating someone while killing them, murdering as a hate
crime, killing someone at a school and murdering someone as part of a rape
or terrorist act.
Also, a murder committed by someone who had been convicted of another
murder or a violent felony, or kills someone randomly, without apparent
motive, could face death.
(source: Reno Gazette-Journal)
Prosecutors handling the case against Darren Mack, charged with murdering
his estranged wife, Charla, and shooting the judge handling their divorce,
announced Monday they will not seek the death penalty.
Clark County Assistant District Attorney Christopher Lalli said a review
committee met Monday and "this case was not selected to be a death penalty
case."
Lalli declined to say what factors stood out in determining appropriate
punishment, adding that "it's an exercise of prosecutorial discretion."
Soorya Townley, Charla's mother, said it was a difficult issue, but in the
end she agreed with the prosecutor's decision.
"I don't think it would be good for his children," she said. "For the
children's sake, it's for the best."
Mack's attorney, Scott Freeman, they were "very pleased" with the
decision.
"We didn't believe it was that type of case," Freeman said. "But it's very
good news. Now, we have the opportunity to proceed with the case and focus
on the arraignment Wednesday."
Mack is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday before visiting Clark County
District Judge Douglas Herndon in a courtroom in Washoe District Court. He
was appointed to the case after all of the region's judges were
disqualified.
Mack, 45, a wealthy Reno pawnshop owner, is accused of stabbing his
estranged wife, Charla, to death in the garage of his townhouse on June
12.
Prosecutors also say Mack left her body on the floor, drove to a downtown
parking garage across the river from the courthouse and shot Washoe
District Family Court Judge Chuck Weller as he stood in his 3rd-floor
chambers.
Weller was wounded in the chest, hospitalized and released. He returned to
work in mid-August.
Mack disappeared after the shooting and was the subject of an
international manhunt until he surrendered 11 days later in Mexico.
Under Nevada law, a person convicted of 1st-degree murder could face the
death penalty if one of 14 aggravating circumstances can be proved and no
mitigating circumstance outweighs the aggravators. A mitigating factor
might include a history of drug abuse, cooperation with authorities and
being abused as a child.
The list of aggravating circumstances includes murdering someone while in
prison, committing a murder in a way that threatens others, murdering
while escaping or avoiding arrest, hiring someone to kill another person,
killing a police officer, firefighter or someone younger than 14,
torturing or mutilating someone while killing them, murdering as a hate
crime, killing someone at a school and murdering someone as part of a rape
or terrorist act.
Also, a murder committed by someone who had been convicted of another
murder or a violent felony, or kills someone randomly, without apparent
motive, could face death.
(source: Reno Gazette-Journal)