Strohmeyer Defense Suffers Setback

In a potentially damaging blow to accused casino killer Jeremy Strohmeyer’s defense, the Nevada Supreme Court has ruled that material from the Long Beach teenager’s personal computer will be allowed in his trial.

In a 3-2 decision revealed Monday, the Nevada justices reversed a decision by the original trial judge that the computer’s contents--documenting a fascination with child pornography--were inadmissible.

Strohmeyer, 19, is charged with sexually assaulting and murdering 7-year-old Sherrice Iverson in the arcade restroom of a Primm, Nev., casino, 43 miles south of Las Vegas, in the early morning of May 25, 1997. He faces a possible death penalty. Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday.

In February, state District Judge Don Chairez concluded in a pretrial hearing that Long Beach police had improperly seized material from Strohmeyer’s personal computer. Chairez reached his decision after defense attorneys argued that the police affidavit used to justify the search warrant for Strohmeyer’s home did not adequately explain why the computer should be examined.

The Clark County district attorney’s office appealed Chairez’s ruling to the state high court. Its majority--Justices Bill Maupin, Miriam Shearing and Cliff Young--decided that “the magistrate properly relied on the conclusions of an experienced law enforcement officer and reasonably inferred that evidence was likely to be found on [Strohmeyer’s] computer.”

One of Strohmeyer’s attorneys, Richard Wright, said, “Obviously, this wasn’t what I expected.”

Chief Justice Charles Springer and Justice Robert Rose wrote dissenting opinions. Springer pointed out that “the 4th Amendment prohibits general warrants allowing officers to rummage through a person’s possessions looking for evidence of a crime.”

In light of Monday’s ruling, Strohmeyer’s attorneys now have several options, including: petitioning the Nevada Supreme Court for another hearing, appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court, filing motions in state district court, and asking for a postponement of the trial date.

Strohmeyer’s attorneys had already planned to ask for a delay of the court date, stating that a July 19 story in The Times about the slaying in the Primadonna Casino had generated so much publicity that it tainted the pool of prospective jurors in Las Vegas.

That argument is expected to be raised in a separate hearing in Las Vegas today.

The ability to use the contents of Strohmeyer’s computer would allow prosecutors to show jurors a link between the sexual nature of the killing and Strohmeyer’s behavior and attitudes shortly before it occurred.

Few details were known about the contents of Strohmeyer’s computer before The Times article was published because Chairez had ordered the materials sealed.

The Times story reported that Strohmeyer’s computer, seized from his desk in his bedroom, contained several hundred files of child pornography--photos, stories and videos.

The videos, which purportedly depicted a man having sex with a child, had titles such as “My Daughter at 5” and “Slamming at 6.”

Strohmeyer used the moniker Flyboy1030 in e-mail exchanges. Records show that on May 23, two days before Strohmeyer went to the Primadonna Casino, Flyboy1030 corresponded with an 18-year-old whose e-mail nickname was Littluvr.

“Do you like little girls?” Littluvr asked.

“Very much so,” Flyboy1030 answered.

“Cool, how young do you like em?”

“I’ve never had a chance to try anything but I fantasize all the time. I don’t know. Probably 5 or 6.”