Sheriff, DA question woman’s certificate of innocence in 2001 murder

The Clark County sheriff and district attorney have questioned why a state judge granted Kirstin “Blaise” Lobato a certificate of innocence in connection with a 2001 killing, records show.

A copy of a letter sent on Nov. 8 to the attorney general’s office and signed by Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill and Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson was released by the Metropolitan Police Department on Wednesday.

The letter questions why Attorney General Aaron Ford’s office settled a state case with Lobato — in which she was seeking a certificate of innocence — so close to a current trial in her federal civil lawsuit against two retired Metro detectives she has accused of fabricating evidence against her.

The letter indicates “key parties involved in her prosecution” still believe that Lobato is guilty. Lobato was released from prison in early 2018, after the district attorney’s office dropped the charges against her when she was granted a new trial in part because of ineffective assistance of counsel.

District Judge Veronica Barisich signed the certificate of innocence on Oct. 30. The trial in the federal lawsuit began Monday.

“A comparison of the state filings with recent federal case submissions suggest that the (certificate of innocence) was all along intended to be used strategically in the federal trial,” the letter said. “This raises concerns about the integrity of the judicial process in Lobato’s wrongful conviction state proceeding.”

Attorney general’s response

In response to a request for comment, the attorney general’s office provided a letter sent by Ford on Nov. 13 that responds to McMahill and Wolfson. In that letter, Ford said Lobato had “met the preponderance of evidence standard used in these cases” to demonstrate she was not in Las Vegas at the time she was accused of killing 44-year-old Duran Bailey.

Ford’s letter cites “new physical, scientific evidence” that had not been presented in either of Lobato’s murder trials, which indicated Bailey died when Lobato “had affirmatively established” she was at her parents’ home in Panaca.

McMahill and Wolfson’s letter said that Lobato’s attorneys had claimed the certificate of innocence “would not influence the federal civil case.” But Lobato’s attorneys were “emphasizing” the certificate in their trial brief written before the trial began, according to the letter.

The certificate was also mentioned in attorneys’ opening arguments Monday, and as attorneys have questioned witnesses.

Lobato’s attorneys declined to comment on the letter Wednesday.

According to McMahill and Wolfson’s letter, Lobato settled the state case for $900,000, “significantly less” than the $1.275,000 she could have received under a state law allowing people to seek monetary relief for wrongful convictions. The letter alleges the move was a “tactical advantage” to obtain the certificate instead of a higher financial settlement.

“District Attorney Wolfson and I recommend an investigation into the representations made to the court and to your office by Lobato, considering the $900,000 cost to taxpayers,” McMahill wrote in the letter.

Ford wrote in his response that depending on the interpretation of the state law, the maximum monetary relief Lobato could have received ranged from $900,000 to $1,237,500.

He wrote that the settlement “eliminated the chance of a more adverse ruling that would result in a judgment in favor of Ms. Lobato for a greater amount, saving hundreds of thousands in taxpayer dollars.”

McMahill and Wolfson’s letter also questioned why Lobato was “not required to meet her burden of proving innocence” by settling the case before a bench trial, although Ford’s response said that the law does not require petitioners to prove innocence in these types of cases.

Testimony continues during trial

Bailey was found dead on July 8, 2001, in west Las Vegas. He had blunt force injuries, multiple stab wounds, and his penis had been severed.

Lobato was tied to the crime after police interviewed a witness who said she had heard Lobato had been attacked by a man in Las Vegas and cut his penis off, attorneys for the detectives have said. But Lobato’s attorneys argued this week Lobato never admitted to cutting off a man’s penis, only to slashing at him with a knife.

Lobato testified that she was attacked in May 2001, over a month before Bailey’s death, in a Budget Suites parking lot in east Las Vegas. She said a man attempted to sexually assault her and she slashed at his lower body with a knife before driving away.

Her attorneys have argued that retired Metro detectives Thomas Thowsen and James LaRochelle fabricated evidence in the case and intentionally caused her emotional distress.

Attorney Elizabeth Wang, one of the lawyers representing Lobato, questioned Thowsen on Wednesday, asking him about specific statements attributed to Lobato in police reports. Lobato has disputed that she told detectives she “snapped” or “cut it off,” referring to the man’s penis. Thowsen has said those statements came from a conversation she had with detectives before the recorded interview, and that their notes from that conversation were destroyed after writing the police reports.

Thowsen denied intentionally fabricating any evidence, and said he believed Lobato was minimizing the violence when she spoke to police.

The trial is expected to resume Thursday with more testimony from Thowsen.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240.