Richard Carrillo
The trial of Assemblyman Richard Carrillo, D-Las Vegas, on DUI and a misdemeanor firearm charge was continued Wednesday after his lawyers made an unsuccessful attempt to get the case thrown out.
Carrillo’s new trial date is July 27 at 9 a.m.
He was arrested in the wee hours of Feb. 27 after deputies found him passed out in the driver’s seat of his Miata with the engine running. His blood alcohol was measured at 0.10 percent — two-tenths higher than the DUI limit.
Lawyer Larry Dunn argued the case should be dismissed because he didn’t receive a videotape recorded by a Capital City Patrol car at the scene until Tuesday, the day before the hearing.
Dunn argued his office made three separate requests for any evidence including tapes or recordings made at the scene between March 16 and April 23 and never got any information from the Carson City District Attorney’s office. Dunn said the tape contains potentially exculpatory evidence of the two Capital City Patrol officers talking about how Carrillo had told them he was just waiting for a ride and had the engine running to keep warm, that he had no intention of driving away.
Dunn’s argument is Carrillo wasn’t guilty of DUI because he wasn’t driving the vehicle.
He also argued he didn’t have the names of those patrol employees until recently to interview them and the 911 tape of the incident and arrest was encrypted so his office couldn’t open and review it.
He asked Justice of the Peace John Tatro to dismiss the charges because the DA’s office didn’t provide all the evidence in the case timely for them to review.
“We’ve been looking for this for months, not just yesterday,” he told Tatro.
But Deputy District Attorney Amy Steelman said that’s because her office didn’t know the dash-camera recording even existed until last week and didn’t get the tape until late Monday. She said there was no intent to conceal the evidence. She added Dunn never told her they couldn’t open and listen to the 911 dispatch recording until just before court convened Wednesday.
Tatro refused to dismiss the charges and asked whether Dunn wanted to continue the proceedings while he reviewed that evidence and the 911 call to dispatch.
In addition to DUI, Carrillo was charged with possession of a firearm while intoxicated. He has a concealed weapon permit but it’s a misdemeanor to carry a weapon while drunk.
Carrillo has already won one part of the battle. He convinced a Department of Motor Vehicles hearings officer to give him back his driver’s license.
The July 27 court date is a “bench trial” — which means it’s held before a judge without a jury.