When Schieck discussed the plea agreement, the court said he was aware that
Snyder “had a significant history of mental health problems, including a
previous institutionalization, antidepressant prescriptions and recent suicide
attempts.”
Court overturns conviction in 2005 child
neglect case
By Cy Ryan
Fri, Jan 15, 2010 (3:40 p.m.)
CARSON CITY – In a 2-1 decision, the Nevada Supreme Court has voided the
second-degree murder conviction of Charlene Snyder in a highly publicized child
neglect case in Las Vegas.
The court said trial lawyer David Schieck failed to request a psychiatric
evaluation prior to advising her to plead guilty.
Snyder’s 2-year-old daughter, Adacelli, had cerebral palsy and weighed only
11 pounds at the time of her death in the summer of 2005. She was found dead
inside the family’s mobile home in a room filled with animal and human feces and
rotting food.
When Schieck discussed the plea agreement, the court said he was aware that
Snyder “had a significant history of mental health problems, including a
previous institutionalization, antidepressant prescriptions and recent suicide
attempts.”
The court said the lawyer was aware “of the highly unusual behavior she
exhibited in allowing her home to, in effect, become a cesspool.
“In light of trial counsel’s knowledge, he was unreasonable in failing to
request a psychiatric evaluation prior to counseling appellant (Snyder) to plead
guilty.”
Schieck had testified he did not order the evaluation because he believed
Snyder was competent. The court said, “the standard for competency is not the
same as that for insanity, nor is it relevant to appellant’s state of mind when
her daughter died.”
The court said a psychiatric evaluation may have supported the only line of
defense for Snyder of “insanity or that she lacked the requisite state of
mind.”
The majority decision was signed Justices Michael Cherry and Michael Douglas.
Dissenting was Justice Mark Gibbons, who said Snyder had not met her burden to
show her lawyer was incompetent.
Snyder, now 32, will return to district court in Las Vegas for new
proceedings.
Both Snyder and her boyfriend Jack Richardson, now 29, were sentenced to
terms of 10 years to life on the second-degree murder conviction.
Discussion: 2 comments so far…
-
- By LasVegasLawyerGal
- 1/15/10 at 4:57 p.m.
Of course, the part not mentioned by the article is that in practice,
requesting a psych eval for one’s client means a transfer of the matter to
Judge Glass–who rarely, if ever, finds anyone incompetent. This is not to
dispute that attorneys should request psych evals when it appears to them that
mental competency is in issue–but it is a bit rich for our Supreme Court to
posit that a psych eval would have magically changed the outcome. -
- By Launce
- 1/16/10 at 4:19 p.m.
LVLG is correct, but nonetheless, the Court shows some intestinal fortitude
in sending this back to District Court. The mob’s hunger for blood
notwithstanding, this is a clear example of someone who could not, should not
be responsible for the care of a disabled infant. The mob wants to punish
Snyder for the community’s failure to look out for the most
vulnerable.
