Las Vegas lawyer Alexis Plunkett to remain jailed another week

Las Vegas attorney Alexis Plunkett must remain behind bars for another week, a judge decided Friday.

Her own lawyers, defending her on witness intimidation charges, tried to argue that the new criminal case against Plunkett should be thrown out. But Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Amy Chelini ruled that because Plunkett was arrested while awaiting trial on felony charges of allowing clients to use cellphones in jail, a district judge should decide whether to keep her locked up.

A day earlier, prosecutors filed court papers alleging that a pair of messages sent by Plunkett showed the “seriousness” of her intention to have her jailed ex-boyfriend, 28-year-old Andrew Arevalo, killed.

Attorneys for Plunkett, who is being held without bail at the Clark County Detention Center, have argued that the messages were not sincere.

Prosecutors also have said Plunkett made at least two Facebook posts, including one on her law office’s page and another using a pseudonym on the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s page, in which she discussed a “snitch.”

Regarding that witness intimidation accusation, her lawyer, Adam Solinger, wrote in a court brief that he does not believe Plunkett committed a crime.

“Calling someone a snitch and a rat is not criminal conduct,” Solinger wrote.

District Judge Michael Villani threw out felony charges against Plunkett in September 2017, but the Nevada Supreme Court reversed his decision, and Plunkett’s lawyers want the judge to once again dismiss the case.

Solinger is expected to argue next week that Plunkett’s Fourth Amendment rights were violated when investigators secretly recorded conversations she had with clients.

At the same hearing, prosecutors are expected to ask Villani to revoke Plunkett’s bail.

Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.