Clark County prosecutors say Nevada's DUI and reckless driving laws are weak after a fatal crash case ends in probation

What happened

Clark County prosecutors in the district attorney's vehicular crimes unit say punishments for dangerous driving in Nevada vary widely and should be stiffer, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. The newspaper pointed to two sentencings one day apart in October that ended very differently.

"The DUI and reckless driving laws in Nevada are weak," Chief Deputy District Attorney Chad Lexis told the Review-Journal. He added: "The fact that you can get probation for such a crime is outrageous." Lexis also criticized judges who are willing to give probation in these cases.

Three cases, three very different outcomes

A fatal I-15 crash ends in probation

Jurors earlier this year found motorcyclist Kevin Nickell guilty of reckless driving resulting in death. The Review-Journal reported that he weaved between lanes and raced down Interstate 15 before the May 2023 crash that killed Joshua Olvera. On Oct. 14, District Judge Monica Trujillo sentenced Nickell to two to six years in prison but suspended that term in favor of three years' probation.

Court records indicate investigators later learned Nickell had been drinking and smoking marijuana with friends, including Olvera, before the crash, according to the Review-Journal. He was never charged with DUI.

A sidewalk crash near the Strip brings prison

A day after Nickell's sentencing, club promoter Gavin Caci was ordered to spend eight to 20 years in prison. The Review-Journal reported that his blood alcohol concentration was nearly three times the legal limit when he drifted onto a sidewalk near the Strip on Feb. 8 and struck a family of tourists from the United Kingdom. All three survived, but a toddler suffered an open skull fracture and nearly died. The child's mother had to relearn how to walk, according to prosecutors.

Judge Tara Clark Newberry gave Caci four to 10 years for reckless driving and the same for the DUI charges, served concurrently. He received another four to 10 years for failing to stop at the scene, to run consecutively. The Review-Journal reported that Caci was also arrested for DUI in California in 2019 but pleaded to a lesser charge.

A plea deal leads to 364 days in jail

In a separate case heard in August, former Las Vegas corrections officer Maurice Washington was sentenced to 364 days in jail after he drove drunk and killed a pedestrian. Unlike the other two men, Washington took a plea deal, and his DUI charges were dismissed, leaving only reckless driving charges. His attorney, Josh Tomsheck, said Washington's impairment did not cause the crash and that the victim had walked into oncoming traffic.

How each side sees the sentences

Deputy District Attorney Corey Hallquist said a harsher penalty was warranted for Caci. Prosecutors had asked for 32 to 80 years, which Caci's attorney, Paola Armeni, said would effectively have kept him in prison for the rest of his life. Hallquist told the Review-Journal that facts and provability are among the factors that shape sentencing, which he said is "supposed to be an individualized determination based on the facts presented."

Armeni said Caci's legal team was also disappointed with the outcome. She said medical experts had expected the victims to fully recover, and that the victims had asked the court to consider Caci's remorse, personal growth and wish to be involved in his child's life. "Our disappointment was not with the Court's responsibility to impose a sentence, but with where that sentence fell within the statutory range," she said.

Why it matters

The cases show how differently Clark County courts have punished drivers whose conduct killed or badly hurt people, depending on the charges, plea deals and the facts prosecutors can prove. Prosecutors are publicly arguing that both state law and some judges' choices are too lenient. More local court and crash coverage is available in our public safety section.

What to watch next

• The vehicular crimes unit's call for stiffer penalties under what Lexis calls weak DUI and reckless driving laws.
• Nickell's three years of probation, which replaced a suspended prison term of two to six years.
• Caci's eight to 20 year prison term, which his attorney said fell at a disappointing point in the statutory range.