Jailed Las Vegas lawyer Alexis Plunkett back in court
A Las Vegas judge said Friday that she wants to hear more evidence before deciding whether to throw out a witness intimidation charge against jailed attorney Alexis Plunkett.
After defense attorneys argued that the comments Plunkett made on social media about a “snitch” in a gang sweep should be protected by the First Amendment, Justice of the Peace Amy Chelini set a preliminary hearing for Wednesday.
“It’s absolutely protected” speech, defense lawyer Adam Solinger told the judge.
Prosecutors argued that Plunkett’s comments, one of which was posted under a pseudonym, amounted to threats.
By Friday afternoon, the Justice Court docket showed that the preliminary hearing had been canceled and that a hearing was set instead for “negotiations.”
Attempts to reach prosecutors and Plunkett’s lawyers on Friday afternoon were unsuccessful.
Plunkett was arrested earlier this month on two counts of bribing or intimidating a witness, a felony, and one count of dissuading or preventing a person from testifying.
On Thursday, another judge revoked Plunkett’s bail after reading newly uncovered text messages Plunkett sent to friends in which she detailed plans to have her former boyfriend killed.
She is set to go to trial in April on several felony charges of allowing clients to use cellphones in jail.
Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.
