Proceedings in 2003 Las Vegas murder case closed | Courts

Trial proceedings in the case of a man accused of a 2003 murder have been paused after a judge agreed with the state of Nevada's argument that his legal counsel, the Clark County Public Defender's Office, had a conflict of interest in the case.

The public defender insisted that there was no conflict of interest and requested that the proceedings be stayed and a decision sought from a higher court.

The judge granted the motion and put the case on hold. An emergency motion on the matter filed by the defense is scheduled to be heard in district court on Wednesday morning.

Defendant Ricky Lee Trader, 47, is accused of killing 28-year-old Theresa Romano, whose body was discovered in a Henderson home in the 200 block of Gold Street in 2003. He now faces a charge of first-degree murder after new DNA testing linked Trader to the crime scene, police said.

Just days after Romano's body was discovered on September 3, 2003, a woman named Sherry Wright told investigators that Trader showed up on her porch and said disturbing things, such as, “There was blood everywhere and she wouldn't shut up,” referring to an unidentified woman.

Court records show Wright is a key witness in the state's case against Trader, but the Clark County Public Defender's Office has represented her twice before, once in 2011 and once in 2019.

While the public defender's office insists that these cases are unrelated to the Trader case and that no conflict of interest exists, the district attorney's office filed a motion on August 5 to clarify the potential conflict of interest.

The next day, Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Mercer raised the case in court before Judge David Gibson. “Your Honor, it has been my experience over the last 15 years that there is usually conflict between the public defender's office and the public defender's office when representing a key witness in a case,” Mercer said, according to court transcripts.

Anna Clark, a public defender, told the court: “We do not believe there is a conflict of interest here.” She added that the firm had sought the opinion of the state bar association, which agreed.

Still, Gibson said he felt there was a conflict of interest. “I'm actually surprised the public defender wants to continue to work the case, considering what I see here every day with the public defender. They back out at the slightest little thing,” he said, according to the transcripts.

“This is a serious case. We don't want anything to mess this up and prevent us from getting it right,” Gibson said.

On Tuesday morning, Clark stated in the Justice of the Peace Court that the public defender's office would take the case to the Nevada Supreme Court if the district court finds at Wednesday's hearing that a conflict of interest exists.

Contact Estelle Atkinson at [email protected].