Experts to diagram Route 91 grounds in Las Vegas for lawsuit
Attorneys and forensic experts plan to inspect the Route 91 Harvest concert venue, where 58 people were killed and hundreds were injured in the Oct. 1 shooting, according to an agreement made in court Monday.
The inspection, slated for Tuesday, will include photographing and diagramming of the the concert grounds. The inspection could pave the way for vendors to retrieve their belongings from the site by the end of the week, said attorney Brian Nettles, who represents Rachel Sheppard, a California woman who suffered three gunshot wounds in the massacre.
“What we want to do is to preserve all of the evidence to get answers, figure out what happened,” Nettles told reporters after a brief hearing before District Judge Mark Denton. “And the only way we can figure out what happened and to get answers is to get in there ourselves with experts to determine what the setup was, why this occurred, what broke down, what policies and procedures were in place, and what policies and procedures may have been violated.”
A Clark County judge signed an order that prevents MGM Resorts International, which owns the concert grounds and the nearby Mandalay Bay, from destroying any evidence related to the shooting, including gunman Stephen Paddock’s suite at Mandalay Bay, said Nettles, who sued MGM and others.
“MGM represents that the lot is not now in the same condition it was on the night of Oct. 1, 2017, and is instead the condition that law enforcement and bio-hazard removal personnel left the site after completing their work,” according to the order, which allows attorneys from lawsuits filed in Clark County and Los Angeles to view the festival grounds.
Listed among the 29 points in Monday’s five-page order is an agreement from the casino giant not to destroy “training policies and procedures in place at the time for all hotel security” or “training policies and procedures in place at the time related to the inspection of guest rooms.”
Of the inspection, which is closed to the public and media, Nettles added: “I don’t think we’re going in with any expectations at this point. It’ll be difficult for all of us who enter the premises to see the condition that it is now, and to imagine what occurred. We’re all going in with open minds because what we want to do is preserve the evidence and tell the story in the most fair way possible.”
The attorney said he would ask that MGM Resorts not try to influence any witness in the case, and he planned to take the deposition of security guard Jesus Campos, a key witness in the criminal investigation and civil litigation who has been staying at an MGM property at the company’s expense.
As of Monday, Sheppard was recovering in a rehabilitation facility in California, her attorney said.
“She continues to get better,” Nettles said. “But this certainly will be a very, very long process for her. And she most undoubtedly will have permanent injuries.”
Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.
Order preventing MGM Resorts International from destroying any evidence related to Route 91 Harvest festiva… by Las Vegas Review-Journal on Scribd
