FORMER MISS NEVADA USA REES HEADED FOR APRIL 9 TRIAL
A 3 a.m. munchie run will end up in a trial for dethroned Miss Nevada USA Katie Rees.
An April 9 trial date was set Friday by Justice of Peace Joe M. Bonaventure. She faces six misdemeanor charges, including resisting arrest and various traffic counts.
Accompanied by her attorney, Michael Cristalli, Rees, 23, showed up in court in a sexy white sun dress with a plunging neckline and high heels. She was not asked to enter a plea and she remains free on bail.
In her first interview since the Feb. 6 incident, she told Vegas Confidential outside the courtroom that she was on her way to a 24-hour store to buy some Ben & Jerry’s strawberry cheesecake ice cream.
Cristalli said Rees asked for a ride home from police after her car was impounded when they discovered she was driving with a suspended license.
“She got agitated,” Cristalli said, when police declined her request for a ride. While restraining her, police “slammed her head against a back window and threw her to the ground,” Cristalli said. She had a front tooth chipped when her head struck the window and numerous bruises from the scuffle, he added.
Cristalli said he intends to file a subpoena to see if the incident was caught on police video. He added he wants to see video of her arriving at the detention center “to see her condition.”
"It was 3 a.m. in the morning and she's a young girl. There were safety concerns," he said. He is considering a lawsuit, as well, he said.
She was charged with speeding, operating a motor vehicle with suspended license plates, failure to produce proof of insurance and resisting a police officer.
Rees, a Florida native, was stripped of her crown by The Miss Universe Organization and co-owner Donald Trump in December 2006 after racy photos surfaced on the Internet. A teenager at the time, she was shown kissing other young women, exposing one of her breasts and pulling down her pants to show her thong underwear at a party in Tampa, Fla.
She was dating Palms owner George Maloof during 2007 and currently works in the “entertainment industry," Cristalli said.
— NORM CLARKE, Vegas Confidential
