A defense attorney told a Las Vegas justice of the peace Wednesday that the judge has the "obligation, duty and responsibility" to dismiss felony charges filed against a local couple whose 5-year-old daughter drowned 14 months ago.
Thomas Pitaro told Justice of the Peace Deborah Lippis that the Clark County district attorney's office does not have the evidence it needs to proceed against Rovelyn and Gregory Jones. Moreover, the Joneses have already suffered "the worst tragedy any human being can go through," one day before they were to be married, Pitaro said.
The Joneses were charged in October with involuntary manslaughter and child abuse and neglect in connection with the May 2001 drowning of Rovelyn Jones' daughter, Annalyn.
Prosecutors at the time said the couple was charged because they knowingly let the girl outside to play alone by the pool despite knowing she could not swim. They alleged the girl was left unattended for as much as 15 minutes.
Pitaro and fellow defense attorney John Momot said the evidence shows that the couple only left the child alone briefly and they intended to join the child outside momentarily.
Gregory Jones went outside to retrieve a cat and the girl was picking flowers, they said. Three to five minutes later, they found her at the bottom of the 3-foot deep pool. Pitaro, who represents Rovelyn Jones, noted that even Clark County Chief Medical Examiner Lary Simms ruled the child's death an accident.
"If ever there was a case that never should have been prosecuted in the criminal justice system in Clark County, this is the one," Pitaro said.
Momot, who represents Gregory Jones, agreed.
"They've received the ultimate punishment, the ultimate curse -- their child died before they did," Momot said.
Lippis heard testimony Wednesday in the hopes of determining if there is enough evidence to try the Joneses. The child abuse and neglect charge carries a two to 20-year sentence. Involuntary manslaughter is punishable by one to six years.
After hearing 7 1/2 hours of testimony from two witnesses and the arguments of the attorneys, Lippis said she would take the case under consideration.
She is expected to make a decision by early November.
Pitaro and Momot attacked the methods used by the authorities in investigating the incident.
According to court testimony, a coroner's investigator, who is a civilian, pulled aside the Joneses at the hospital and questioned them while seated with a Metro Police detective and a child abuse investigator.
The Joneses were not read their rights under the Miranda decision, nor were they told they could decline to answer questions or leave.
All three investigators wore badges and at least one of them wore a gun, Pitaro noted.
Compounding the problem, Pitaro said, was Rovelyn Jones' emotional state and her inability to speak English. She had arrived in the U.S. from the Philippines only two weeks prior.
Pitaro and Momot argued that the statements made at that time should be thrown out as evidence because their clients' rights were violated. They also noted there are inconsistencies between the coroner's investigator's report and the Metro detective's.
The coroner's investigator's report indicates Rovelyn Jones made incriminating statements to the Metro detective, while the Metro detective testified he never spoke with Rovelyn Jones because she was hysterical.
Deputy District Attorney Eric Jorgenson argued that the police didn't need to read the Joneses their rights because, at that time, they were not in custody.
He argued that the charges should stand.
"Sure, the drowning was an accident, but what is not an accident is that the mother and her fiance knew the child wanted to go swimming, they knew the child couldn't swim and yet they allowed her to go outside without supervision," Jorgenson said.
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