Coroner’s jury rules woman’s shooting `justifiable’

A Clark County coroner’s inquest jury Tuesday found the fatal shooting of a 19-year-old Texas woman by a Las Vegas policeman "justifiable and excusable" after the officer testified he unintentionally fired his gun when he was hit by the woman’s car.

The seven-member jury took only 14 minutes to reach the verdict clearing Las Vegas Metropolitan Police officer James Carroll, 27, of wrongdoing in the death of Rebecca Huff Noblett, who was shot on March 4 after she tried to pass a stolen check at a downtown business.

The hearing included testimony from Noblett’s husband denying reports he steered the car that hit Carroll. And a homeless advocate testified that "as a joke" he signed another person’s name to the check Noblett tried to pass before her death.

Carroll, a two-year Metro veteran, said after the verdict, "I feel it was great. I’m just glad to be alive." Carroll, who sustained back and hip injuries when the car hit him, had been on administrative leave with pay since the shooting and is now reinstated.

Rebecca Noblett was shot by the officer at about 9 p.m. on March 4 after she fled the Fremont Out of State Check Cashing Service at 515 E. Fremont St., where police said she tried to cash a stolen personal check.

Carroll, who was in the business with another officer on an unrelated investigation, ran after Noblett, who had entered her car and was driving away when the officer’s gun fired, striking her in the head. She died at University Medical Center on March 9.

Carroll testified Tuesday he felt Noblett’s car hit him on the left side of his body while his semiautomatic pistol was in his right hand, and he heard the gun go off into the driver’s side of the car.

He said he did not plan to use his weapon.

"I saw the car coming at me, and I just said, `Oh, God, I’m dead,"’ Carroll said. "I heard a `pop’ and I spun away from the car … I didn’t have any intention of using the gun … against the person or the car."

Meanwhile, Noblett’s husband, Johnny Michael Noblett, 23, who was extradited on March 18 from Las Vegas to Tennessee to face felony drug charges, appeared at the inquest and denied reports stating he, while seated in the passenger seat of the car, turned the wheel toward Carroll.

After Hearing Officer Michael Cherry asked the jury to leave the courtroom, Johnny Noblett said he wanted to consult an attorney "because of the lies that are being told" about what happened in the car.

He, however, declined to testify about the shooting, citing his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. An officer of the court then escorted him back to Tennessee. He also faces a parole violation charge in Texas.

The inquest included testimony from a self-described homeless advocate who said, "as a joke," he signed the $200 check Rebecca Noblett tried to cash and didn’t know she would attempt to pass it using someone else’s identification card.

The man, Steven Wisniewski, also testified Johnny Noblett did not take responsibility for steering and accelerating the car at Carroll, as relatives of Rebecca Noblett had charged.

Wisniewski said, during an interview with police, he had speculated Johnny Noblett may have taken control of the car from his wife in order to hit the officer.

Police have submitted a case to the district attorney"s office, seeking a charge against Johnny Noblett of first-degree murder in his wife’s death.

Assistant District Attorney Eric Jorgensen, who presented the evidence and questioned 22 witnesses during the inquest, said the murder case was still pending with his office.

Wisniewski testified he allowed the Nobletts and their children, 2-year-old Jeffrey and 9-month-old Heather, to live with him in his Las Vegas home in January after he saw the couple with a sign saying they would work for food and diapers.

He said Rebecca Noblett had found a book of personal checks on a roadside. He signed two of the checks, one for $300, another for $200, as a joke and then asked them to tear them up, he said.