Aguilar and Blakely appear in court ahead of plea agreements

Anthony Aguilar and Carlos Blakely, suspects in last year’s July 5 fatal shooting of Joey Perry, briefly appeared in district court yesterday morning, being granted more time before proceeding with plea agreements.

“It does appear the matter is resolved. We received a guilty plea. I went over it with Mr. Aguilar,” Christopher R. Oram, one of Aguilar’s attorneys said in court. “He just needs some time to talk to his family. He’s very young, and so if we can pass this, just two weeks, and then we should be ready to give the court an answer.”

Sept. 3 was the date set for both Blakely and Aguilar to return to district court. Senior Judge Michael Villani (covering for Fifth Judicial District Court Department 1 Judge Kimberly Wanker, who is temporarily away from the bench for outpatient breast cancer treatment) also gave the same amount of time to Blakely.

“Judge, my client is gonna go ahead and ask for that two weeks as well,” Blakely’s attorney Michael A. Troiano told Villani. “My understanding is the state has agreed to keep the offer open until at least that date.”

The exact details of each plea agreement were not discussed outright in court when Aguilar or Blakely sat before the judge yesterday.

“He’s [Blakely] been provided a copy of the plea agreement, and we have already gone over it line by line, word by word,” Troiano explained.

The last time Aguilar and Blakely appeared in district court was in April, when both pleaded not guilty to their charges in the case. At the end of that hearing, both sides agreed to a Supreme Court settlement conference, which was alluded to yesterday.

The Nevada Supreme Court rules define criminal case settlement conferences’ purpose as, “to facilitate good faith discussions to resolve any criminal case before the district court in a manner that serves the interest of justice.”

Contact reporter Elijah Dulay at edulay@pvtimes.com