Trial of ex-Assemblyman Steven Brooks delayed in California
Trial has been delayed in California for a former Nevada legislator facing felony and misdemeanor charges stemming from a high-speed freeway chase and fight with police the same day he was expelled from the Assembly.
A Friday pretrial hearing was reset to Sept. 27 in Victorville for Steven John Brooks II, 41, according to San Bernardino County Superior Court records.
Prosecutor Shannon Flaherty said Brooks has a new lawyer who sought time to become familiar with the case.
The attorney, Sean O’Connor, didn’t immediately respond Friday to a message seeking comment.
Brooks pleaded not guilty Aug. 6 to felony charges of evading and obstructing an officer and throwing a substance at a police vehicle, and a misdemeanor charge of harming a police animal. He could face more than five years in prison if he’s convicted of all charges.
He is being held on $100,000 bail at the San Bernardino County jail in San Bernardino.
Brooks was a second-term Democrat from North Las Vegas when he became the first state lawmaker ever expelled from the Nevada Legislature on March 28. Colleagues called him a security threat.
Brooks was arrested hours later after police said he led them on an 80 mph chase on Interstate 15 from Barstow to Victorville, fought with officers trying to subdue him at gunpoint, and attacked a police dog with a wrench.
The freeway arrest was Brooks’ third in three months. It followed several reported hospitalizations for psychiatric evaluations and weeks of debate in the Legislature about whether to let him take his elected seat.
Charges are pending in Las Vegas stemming from Brooks’ Feb. 10 arrest on charges including resisting a police officer with a weapon during a domestic dispute with his estranged wife, and a separate case accusing him of illegally possessing a firearm when threatening other state legislators Jan. 19.
