Terrell Young

Overview

Terrell Young was convicted in the 1998 slayings of four young men and was sentenced on multiple counts in 2006. The case involved a robbery at an east Las Vegas home in August 1998, in which the four victims were bound with duct tape and shot in the head.

Timeline

• August 1998 — Terrell Young and other robbers bound four young men with duct tape and shot them in the head during a robbery at an east Las Vegas home; authorities said they had hoped to find large amounts of money and drugs, but netted less than $300, a videocassette recorder, a Nintendo game player and a pager.
• 1998 — Four young men were killed in the slayings; the murders happened eight years before the 2006 sentencing described in the case summary.
• 1999 — Terrell Young was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison in the deaths of Tracey Gorringe, Peter Talamantez, Jeffrey Biddle, and Matthew Mowen.
• December 2002 — The Nevada Supreme Court overturned Donte Johnson’s death sentence in December 2002 after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled juries should make such decisions; Donte Johnson was awaiting resentencing.
• Thursday, 24 December 2004 — The Nevada Supreme Court granted a new trial to Terrell Young after ruling that District Judge Joseph Pavlikowski did not adequately probe an ongoing conflict between Terrell Young and his court-appointed attorneys.
• December 2004 — Young’s appellate attorney, Karen Connolly, stated that Young had been denied a fundamental right to a fair trial.
• Wednesday, 2006 — A penalty phase involving Terrell Young included the disruptive behavior of Terrell Young that delayed the trial for weeks; correction officers were present for the punishment phase; the jury handed down four counts of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years.
• June 8, 2006 — A jury recommended four sentences of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years for Terrell Young.
• June 2006 — A jury recommended life with the possibility of parole after 40 years for the murders; jurors did not sentence Young to death.
• 27 July 2006 — Judge Nancy Saitta sentenced Terrell Young to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the kidnapping of four young men in 1998 and imposed consecutive determinate terms and additional consecutive life without parole terms on remaining counts.

The offence

The four victims were killed during a robbery at an east Las Vegas home in August 1998. The victims were bound with duct tape and shot in the head.

Authorities said the robbers hoped to find large amounts of money and drugs, but the robbers netted less than $300, a videocassette recorder, a Nintendo game player and a pager.

Victims

• Tracey Gorringe, 20
• Peter Talamantez, 20
• Matthew Mowen, 19
• Jeffrey Biddle, 19

Investigation and charges context

Terrell Young was one of three men charged in the slayings. The case continued through two retrials of two different defendants, and the most recent trial was interrupted several times by the disruptive behavior of Terrell Young, delaying the trial for weeks.

The death penalty was not an offer in this case.

Trial

Disruptive conduct during the trial

During jury selection, Terrell Young cleared the defense table of all documents, overturned the prosecution table and tossed a chair at the jury box. He was fitted with a stun belt when he returned to court. He then spat on his attorneys and was subdued by a jolt of electricity.

Two weeks later, as the jury forewoman read the guilty verdicts, Young berated her after a nervous smile played across her face:

"What's so funny about it?"

The forewoman cried so hard she could not continue for about a minute.

After court was adjourned that day, the defendant’s mother, Willena “Maria” Warren, attacked Wolfbrandt inside the courtroom, aiming blows at his face and back while screaming curse words.

When Terrell Young was returned to the Clark County Detention Center that same day, he waited until his stun belt was removed and then attacked a guard. When another guard came to the rescue nearly a minute later, the guard found Young straddling the officer and pounding his face with both hands.

Verdicts and jury sentencing recommendation (June 2006)

A jury convicted Terrell Young and the penalty phase resulted in the jury recommending four counts of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years for the murders.

Jurors decided not to sentence Young to death, instead opting for a sentence of life without possibility of parole.

Following the penalty phase, the possibility of parole after 40 years upset the families of Young’s victims.

Punishment phase conduct (June 2006)

Ten correction officers were on hand for Terrell Young’s punishment to be read. Young was quiet for the most part until his verdict was about to be read. Refusing to stand up, correction officers were forced to make him stand and listen.

Sentencing

Recommended punishment after the penalty phase (June 2006)

After the penalty phase for the murders in June 2006, a jury recommended:

• Life with the possibility of parole after 40 years for the murders.

Sentencing by Judge Nancy Saitta (27 July 2006)

On 27 July 2006, Judge Nancy Saitta sentenced Terrell Young “this morning” to:

• Life in prison without the possibility of parole for the kidnapping of four young men in 1998.

Judge Saitta also sentenced Terrell Young on the remaining counts to sentences totaling 40 to 180 months in the Nevada Department of Corrections, to be served consecutive to the life sentences.

The count-by-count sentencing detail included multiple “equal and consecutive” determinate and life-without-parole terms.

Count-by-count sentences (as listed)

• Count 1. 40/180 Months Nevada Department of Corrections (NDC)
• Count 2. 26/120 Months NDC (Consecutive to Ct. 1)
• Count 3. 40/180 Months NDC plus equal and Consecutive 40/180 Months NDC (Consecutive to Ct. 2)
• Count 4. 3)
• Count 5. 4)
• Count 6. 5)
• Count 7. Life