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Thread: Benjamin Paul Frazier Gets 26 Years to Life in 2013 NV Murder of Kenneth Brown

  1. #1
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    Benjamin Paul Frazier Gets 26 Years to Life in 2013 NV Murder of Kenneth Brown




    Suspect in deadly after-hours club shooting pleads not guilty

    A 42-year-old ex-convict has pleaded not guilty to charges that could get him the death penalty in a shooting that killed a patron wounded two employees at an after-hours Las Vegas Strip nightclub.

    Benjamin Paul Frazier pleaded not guilty Wednesday in Clark County District Court to murder, attempted murder, battery and weapon charges in the pre-dawn Oct. 21 shooting at Drai's After Hours at Bally's hotel-casino.

    Prosecutor Giancarlo Pesci said a decision could be made Wednesday whether to seek the death penalty.

    Frazier's lawyer, Bob Beckett, says Frazier doesn't remember anything about the shooting.

    Police said Frazier disputed a $30 cover charge before pulling a .38-caliber revolver, wounding club doorman Robert Farias and security guard Anthony Guerrero, and killing Kenneth Brown when he tackled Frazier.

    http://www.mynews3.com/content/news/...4kN9M-QCA.cspx

  2. #2
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    Prosecutors seek death for accused nightclub shooter

    By FRANCIS McCABE
    THE LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

    Clark County prosecutors said they will seek the death penalty for the 42-year-old man charged with fatally shooting one man and injuring two security guards at Drai’s After Hours nightclub inside Bally’s on the Strip.

    Benjamin Frazier faces six counts, including one count each of first-degree murder and carrying a concealed firearm and two counts each of attempted murder and battery with a deadly weapon. If Frazier is convicted on the murder count a jury would then decide Frazier’s punishment, whether death or a prison term.

    The district attorney’s death penalty committee made the decision Wednesday.

    The death penalty committee, whose meetings are not open to the public, looks at several factors when considering capital punishment, including whether there are aggravating factors in the case including past convictions, whether a jury would impose the death penalty as punishment and whether a conviction would stand up under appeal.

    Authorities said Frazier opened fire about 5:45 a.m. in Bally’s, at 3645 Las Vegas Blvd. South, at Flamingo Road, after an argument at the entrance to Drai’s.

    When Kenneth Brown, 40, saw Frazier, shoot two Bally’s security guards, Robert Farias and Anthony Guerrero, Brown jumped on the man’s back and wrestled for the gun, according to police.

    Brown, who recently moved to Las Vegas from Los Angeles and worked as a club promoter and stand-up comedian, was fatally shot in the neck and upper chest.

    Both guards survived.

    The argument started over a $30 cover charge.

    His lawyer, relative Robert Beckett, has said Frazier doesn’t remember anything from the morning of Oct. 21.

    Frazier has a history of violent crimes in Las Vegas.

    He was sentenced to probation for a June 30, 1996, incident at Cheetahs strip club for which he pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon.

    Most recently, Frazier pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor battery count for a fight on Feb. 29, 2012, when he punched a bartender at a Strip casino and kicked another man. He was sentenced to six months of probation and ordered to take alcohol counseling.

    Frazier remains jailed at the Clark County Detention Center without bail.

    http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/pr...htclub-shooter

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    Death penalty trial set in Jan. 2015 for ex-con in fatal shooting at after-hours Vegas club

    LAS VEGAS (AP) — A January 2015 date has been set for the death penalty trial of a 42-year-old ex-convict accused of killing a patron and wounding two employees at an after-hours Las Vegas Strip nightclub.

    Benjamin Paul Frazier's lawyer, Bob Beckett, told a state court judge on Wednesday that he needs to review evidence and obtain medical and psychiatric evaluations before taking the case to a jury.

    Beckett says Frazier has been seen by doctors in jail.

    Prosecutors agreed to the date set by Clark County District Court Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez.

    Frazier has pleaded not guilty to murder, battery and other charges in the Oct. 21 shooting at Drai's After Hours at Bally's hotel-casino.

    Beckett argues that Frazier took antidepressants, anxiety and blood pressure medication and was drunk at the time of the shooting.

    http://www.therepublic.com/view/stor...Shooting-Vegas

  4. #4
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    Deal offered for man facing death penalty, but he wants to fire lawyers

    By David Ferrara
    The Las Vegas Review-Journal

    Prosecutors offered to withdraw the death penalty and agree to a sentence of 32 years to life in prison for Benjamin Frazier, who is accused of killing a man at the former Drai’s nightclub and shooting two security guards.

    Instead, Frazier told a judge Wednesday that he wants to fire the defense attorneys who negotiated the deal.

    In a short, somewhat disjointed speech, Frazier told District Judge Douglas Herndon that he did not trust Randall Pike and Jeremy Storms, with the Special Public Defenders office. The 45-year-old jailed defendant, who is being held without bail, suggested his lawyers had done nothing for him and complained about access to writing utensils and lack of medical attention from doctors outside the Clark County Detention Center. He said he had suffered seizures and injured his head in his cell.

    “I’ve been lied to, and I’ve been manipulated numerous times,” Frazier said. “I wasn’t even in a condition to work on my case, and I believe they didn’t give a damn. This has been hell. This has been hell.”

    Pike, who worked directly with the county’s top prosecutor, Steve Wolfson, on hammering out a deal in which Frazier could plead guilty but mentally ill through what’s known as the Alford decision. That means he would not admit guilt, but acknowledge that prosecutors have enough evidence to prove the charges against him.

    Video surveillance
    from Oct. 21, 2013, inside Bally’s, at 3645 Las Vegas Blvd. South, where the club was previously located, shows Frazier repeatedly firing a .38-caliber revolver, wounding two men, and fatally shooting 40-year-old Kenneth Brown, who police said was a “Good Samaritan” and tried to subdue Frazier.

    A quarrel started after Frazier asked club security whether he could preview the crowd before paying an entrance fee, authorities said. He decided to pay the cover and walked inside, but left soon after, demanding a refund because the club wasn’t full.

    The defense attorneys had hired a neuropsychiatrist, two counselors, another doctor to generate documents for the plea, retained and consulted with other experts, coordinated with mitigation specialists for a possible penalty, and worked with investigators, Pike said.

    Chief Deputy District Attorney Giancarlo Pesci said the offer would remain open “for the sake of these attorneys” until Frazier’s next court appearance in September.

    “I really want to vent my spleen because they’re going out of their way for him, so this concept that somehow they’re falling down is rather repugnant to me,” the prosecutor said. “At some point, it has to end.”

    The judge rejected Frazier’s request, and set a trial date for April, should he decline the offer.

    Negotiation in Drai’s shooting

    Prosecutors for the first time Wednesday made public the details of an offer extended to Benjamin Frazier, who is accused of fatally shooting a man and injuring two others at the former Drai’s nightclub. Frazier would plead guilty to first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder and be sentenced to 32 years to life in prison, according to the deal.

    District Judge Douglas Herndon refused to kick Frazier’s attorneys off the case at his request.

    “There is always going to be a rub between what you think needs to be done, and what they have the wisdom to know needs to be done,” the judge said. “And there comes a time where if they feel like a case has a certain value to it, they’ve got an obligation to try and secure for you the best resolution they can.”

    https://www.reviewjournal.com/crime/...-fire-lawyers/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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