Fallon man guilty of deadly weapon assault

A Fallon man pleaded guilty Tuesday in District Court on an assault charge.

Steve Gerry Shell, a self-proclaimed music producer, entered the plea to one count of assault with a deadly weapon stemming from an Aug. 20 incident.

According to the criminal complaint, Shell threatened Ashley Miller with a knife during a domestic dispute. Shell, though, told Judge Tom Stockard he stabbed the bed and “she was at a reasonable distance.”

Churchill County Deputy District Attorney Lane Mills, though, painted a different picture as he said the state would have proved at trial a more contentious and violent interaction.

Mills said the incident started in the bedroom and carried over into the bathroom, back to the bedroom and a hallway. He said evidence would have shown Shell choked Miller in the bedroom while waving the knife in her face and making stabbing motions.

Once the struggle moved info the hallway, Shell grabbed Miller by the neck, threw her against the wall and stabbed the wall with the knife. In addition, Miller was forced to tell her children she was wrong to start the argument. After that, according to Mills, Shell attempted to strangle Miller with the cord from a video-game unit.

Shell and his attorney, Dave Niedert, only said the stabbing occurred on the bed.

Neidert asked for his client to be released on his own recognizance or a reduced bail from $40,000, but was denied. Mills opposed any bail reduction and a release noting two prior failure to appear citations.

Shell will be sentenced Oct. 29 and faces one to six years in prison.

In other court news —

Anthony Sanchez’s trial was continued until Dec. 4 after a motions hearing Tuesday in District Court.

Sanchez is accused of having sex with Donna Deroche on the steps of the Churchill Arts Council earlier this year.

Tuesday’s hearing, though, centered on a motion by the prosecution adding two witnesses. Sanchez’s attorney, Jacob Sommer, said the late notice did not allow him time to question those witnesses to determine if any information could be provided to aid his defense.

Churchill County Deputy District Attorney Sean Alexander, though, said he filed the motion before the established deadline, thus giving Sommer ample time to vet the witnesses.

Despite Alexander’s objection, Stockard moved the trial to Dec. 4-6.

Convicted sex offender David Perry Altvater of Reno received a suspended sentence plus $750 in fines and $500 for use of the public defender for failing to follow through on violating life-time supervision requirements.

He received 364 days in jail and a $2,000, all of which were suspended except $750, on the condition Altvater complete his interview with the Department of Parole and Probation.

He was convicted of incest in 2005 in Fallon and sentenced to 24-72 months in prison. Altvater failed to register in Reno and pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit violation of a sex offender, a gross misdemeanor, in Fallon.