Lawyers want murder charge tossed in Las Vegas bus-push case
Attorneys for a woman accused of pushing a 74-year-old man off a bus in March, leading to his death, said Wednesday they would ask the Nevada Supreme Court to throw out a first-degree murder charge.
Along with the murder of Serge Fournier, 25-year-old Cadesha Bishop faces one count of abuse of an older/vulnerable person resulting in death and battery resulting in substantial bodily harm of a victim 60 or older.
During a District Court hearing Wednesday, Judge Douglas Herndon refused to dismiss the murder count.
One of Bishop’s lawyers, Adam Solinger, had argued that prosecutors had overcharged Bishop.
“If you’ve got what amounts to the same crime, you can’t have two different punishments,” Solinger said after the hearing. “It’s not fair fundamentally to treat those that are in the same situation differently … We think it’s important that she goes to trial on the correct charges.”
Prosecutors have said that after Bishop shoved Fournier on March 21, she and her young son stepped over Fournier as he lay on the bus stop concrete near Fremont and 13th streets.
Witnesses told police that Bishop yelled profanities at other passengers before Fournier told her, “You need to be nicer to other people.”
At the stop, Fournier grabbed a cart and shuffled past Bishop in an effort to exit, surveillance video shows. As the door opened, she pushed him in the back.
Police said Fournier landed on his head about 8 feet from the bus, and Bishop walked away without offering help.
Authorities have said Fournier declined medical attention at the time, but he arrived at University Medical Center later that night for treatment, and had suffered multiple fractured ribs.
Fournier died on April 23 after suffering pneumonia that resulted from his injuries.
Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.
