Clark County D.A. Steve Wolfson sets double standard for grand jury cases

It’s a tale of two prosecutions.

One defendant, Kenneth Lopera, is a former Las Vegas Metro Police officer, charged with two felony counts of involuntary manslaughter and oppression under the color of office, in connection with the death of Tashi Brown.

The second defendant, Nick Diaz, is the pot-smoking, self-proclaimed bad boy star of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, accused of felony domestic violence.

Within days, two grand juries in Las Vegas refused to indict either man for the acts they are alleged by prosecutors to have committed.

That’s where the similarity ends between these two men with very different backgrounds who received the same outcome from the panel charged with determining whether probable cause exists to charge them with crimes.

The case against Lopera, the former cop, is over.  District Attorney Steve Wolfson issued a statement announcing he will not pursue charges in court.

“After listening to many hours of testimony over several days from numerous witnesses, the Grand Jury — which consists of citizens from our community – voted not to return an indictment against former Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Officer Kenneth Lopera,” Wolfson said in a statement.  “Considering the fact that a Grand Jury did not find slight or marginal evidence to support a criminal charge, it is highly improbably that a crime could be established beyond a reasonable doubt.”

“Prosecutors are guided by rules of ethics. One such rule provides that a prosecutor shall not proceed with a prosecution if, in good faith, there is a belief that a charge could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt,” Wolfson said in the statement.

But the apparently equally flimsy case against Diaz is proceeding to Justice Court, where Diaz’ attorney, Ross Goodman, intends to conjure up the same doubts that may have plagued the grand jury.

The Current asked Wolfson why he is imposing a double standard to two failed attempts to indict by grand jury. We did not hear back.

Goodman says overriding the grand jury casts doubt on the justice system.

“The message to the community is if we don’t agree with the grand jury’s decision we can still move forward. Not good policy,” Goodman told the Current via email.