Kirstin Lobato questioned over certificate of innocence in 2001 murder | Dishes

The Clark County sheriff and district attorney have questioned why a state judge issued a certificate of innocence to Kirstin “Blaise” Lobato in connection with a 2001 murder, records show.

A copy of a letter sent to the Attorney General’s Office on Nov. 8 and signed by Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill and Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson was released Wednesday by the Metropolitan Police Department.

The letter questions why Attorney General Aaron Ford’s office settled a state case involving Lobato – in which she sought a certificate of innocence – so close to ongoing proceedings in her federal civil case against two retired Metro detectives she accused of having fabricated evidence against her.

The letter indicates that “key parties involved in her prosecution” still believe Lobato is guilty. Lobato was released from prison in early 2018 after prosecutors dropped charges against her when she was granted a new trial for, among other things, ineffective assistance of counsel.

District Judge Veronica Barisich signed the certificate of innocence on October 30. Trial in the federal lawsuit began Monday.

“A comparison of the federal filings with the most recent federal filings suggests that the (certificate of innocence) was intended from the outset to be used strategically in the federal case,” the letter said. “This raises concerns about the integrity of the judicial process in Lobato’s wrongful conviction trial.”

Attorney General’s response

In response to a request for comment, the attorney general’s office provided a Nov. 13 letter from Ford responding to McMahill and Wolfson. In that letter, Ford said Lobato “met the preponderance of the evidentiary standard in these cases” to prove she was not in Las Vegas at the time she was accused of murdering 44-year-old Duran Bailey.

Ford’s letter cited “new physical, scientific evidence” that had not been presented in any of Lobato’s murder trials that suggested Bailey died when Lobato had “confirmed” she was at her parents’ home in Panaca.

The letter from McMahill and Wolfson said that Lobato’s attorneys claimed that the certification of innocence would have “no bearing on the federal civil case.” However, Lobato’s lawyers “emphasized” the certification in their brief written before the trial began, the letter said.

The certificate was also mentioned in attorneys’ opening statements and during questioning of witnesses on Monday.

Lobato’s lawyers declined to comment on the letter Wednesday.

According to McMahill and Wolfson’s letter, Lobato settled the state’s case for $900,000, “significantly less” than the $1,275,000 she could have received under a state law that allows people to seek financial compensation for wrongful convictions to apply. The letter claims the move was a “tactical advantage” to obtain the certificate, rather than a potentially larger financial settlement.

“District Attorney Wolfson and I recommend an investigation into the representations made by Lobato to the court and your office given the $900,000 cost to taxpayers,” McMahill wrote in the letter.

Ford wrote in his response that depending on the interpretation of state law, the maximum financial relief Lobato could have received was between $900,000 and $1,237,500.

He wrote that the settlement “eliminated the possibility of a more adverse decision that would result in a judgment in Ms. Lobato’s favor for a greater amount, saving hundreds of thousands in taxpayer dollars.”

McMahill and Wolfson’s letter also questioned why Lobato “did not have to meet her burden of proving her innocence” by settling the case before a trial, even though Ford noted in his response that the law was violated by the plaintiffs in such cases are not required to prove their innocence.

Testimony will continue throughout the trial

Bailey was found dead in west Las Vegas on July 8, 2001. He suffered blunt force injuries, multiple stab wounds and his penis was severed.

Lobato was linked to the crime after police interviewed a witness who said she heard that Lobato had been attacked by a man in Las Vegas and his penis had been cut off, attorneys for investigators said. But Lobato’s lawyers argued this week that Lobato never admitted to cutting off a man’s penis, only that he hit him with a knife.

Lobato testified that she was attacked in a parking lot at the Budget Suites in East Las Vegas in May 2001, more than a month before Bailey’s death. She said a man tried to sexually assault her and she hit him in the lower body with a knife before driving away.

Her lawyers have argued that retired Metro detectives Thomas Thowsen and James LaRochelle fabricated evidence in the case and intentionally caused her emotional distress.

Attorney Elizabeth Wang, one of the attorneys representing Lobato, questioned Thowsen on Wednesday about certain statements attributed to Lobato in police reports. Lobato has denied that she told investigators that she “severed” or “cut” him, referring to the man’s penis. Thowsen said those statements came from a conversation she had with investigators before the taped interview and that her notes from that conversation were destroyed after the police reports were written.

Thowsen denied intentionally fabricating any evidence and said he believed Lobato downplayed the incident when she spoke to police.

The trial is expected to continue Thursday with further testimony from Thowsen.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at [email protected] or 702-383-0240.