Pahrump Justice Court Judge Kent Jasperson discharged the case Oct. 7 against a woman facing attempted murder charges on after the judge said the state did not meet its burden of proof.
Robin Renee Young, 54, was arrested in March after sheriff’s deputies were told by a witness Young had fired a gun into an occupied vehicle.
Jasperson said “there was no sufficient cause” to believe the defendant was guilty of the offense.
Defense Attorney Harry Gensler said testimony from the alleged victim did not pass muster under cross-examination during last week’s preliminary hearing.
Gensler also noted that at least one witness testified they did not hear any gunfire when the crime allegedly occurred.
“The owner of the property that this occurred on, indicated he didn’t hear gunshots and some arguing,” he said. “The alleged victim was screaming at Ms. Young in kind of a drunken state.”
Gensler also noted the judge found the alleged victim’s testimony lacked any kind of credibility.
“Judge Jasperson saw right through it and the only corroborating evidence of any kind, was a bullet hole in the fender of the vehicle that was recovered,” he said. “The officer did testify that it appeared to him to be recent, but he couldn’t tell how recent it was. He couldn’t tell whether it was a couple of hours old, or a couple of days or even a week.”
Gensler said an important piece of evidence in the case would have also proven his client was innocent of the charges but it was not submitted.
“We were waiting for the ballistics results to come back and it came back showing the bullet was not from the gun they thought it came from,” he said. “That did not get into the preliminary hearing because we had received it that morning, and it would have certainly come into play later on, if necessary.”
Additionally, Gensler said his client is relieved to have had the case discharged by Jasperson, as she was not interested in signing a plea deal.
“She was adamant that it was a bunch of BS and she wasn’t going to take any kind of a deal because she believed the truth would eventually come out sooner or later,” he said. “She stood fast even though she had a really good offer from the state. Normally someone would jump on that. The state realized the case was extremely weak as well, so they gave her a pretty good offer and my client said no because she was not pleading to anything.”
According to court records, the alleged victim, Steve Castro and another individual showed up at a residence along Simkins Road to perform repairs on one of several homes on the property.
Prosecutors alleged Young shot at the vehicle shortly after it arrived at the residence due to a history of bad blood between both individuals.
The bullet struck the right front quarter-panel inches away from the passenger seat, according to the arrest report by the Nye County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies arrested Young on March 18, at a property on 1850 W. Simkins Road, where she occupied a trailer.
Young was released on April 1, after a longtime friend posted the $120,000 bail.
Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com. Follow @sharrispvt on Twitter.