YERINGTON - Family members should not be allowed to testify at the drunk-driving sentencing of a Lyon County man who was involved in a fatal collision that killed three people, the man's attorney said in court Wednesday.
State law "defines what a victim is - a person who has been injured or killed as a direct result of the commission of a crime," said Mark Fejervary's defense attorney, Lane Mills.
Mills said a justice court judge's December ruling that Fejervary, 49, was not the "proximate cause of the accident" and thus would not be tried on a charge of DUI causing death precludes the families from being defined as victims.
"I don't believe the family fits into the definition as such that they can give testimony," Mills said.
On July 31, 2002, Harold Marek, 60; his grandson Robert Marek, 15; and neighbor Louis Norton, 15, were killed when their vehicle was struck at the intersection of Fir Avenue and Highway 95A in Silver Springs by Fejervary's car.
Three charges of felony drunken driving causing death were filed July 29, 2003, after a review of the case by an independent investigator, but on Dec. 19, Lyon County Justice Court Judge William Rogers determined the accident was unavoidable. Fejervary was southbound on Highway 95A when he struck Marek's car as Marek tried to cross the highway.
At the time of his arrest, Fejervary's blood-alcohol content was .25 - more than three times the legal limit, according to court documents.
He pleaded guilty Jan. 7 to third-offense drunken driving and could be sentenced to up to six years in jail.
District Attorney Leon Aberasturi said he filed the motion to allow victim statements to prevent sentencing from being overturned in a higher court.
"There is no case law in Nevada on whether or not 'direct result' equates to 'proximate cause,'" he said. "DUI is not a victimless crime. These families have been impacted by the DUI. They'll always wonder what could have, what should have happened if the defendant had not been driving under the influence."
District Judge Archie Blake gave the two sides until March 10 to prepare briefs in support of their arguments.
"This is a novel issue," Blake said.
Brian Norton, uncle of Louis, drove five hours from Pahrump to attend the hearing. He was prepared to speak on behalf of the Norton family.
"If they let me speak to the judge at sentencing, that's great," said Norton, a district court bailiff and former police officer in Pahrump. "There's a lot of pain here."
Fejervary is being held in the Washoe County Jail where he is awaiting trial on an unrelated charge of assault with a deadly weapon. He allegedly pointed a shotgun at an elderly man in Mustang who had refused to allow him into his motor home.
Contact F.T. Norton at ftnorton@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1213.