District Attorney defends Dennis Carry’s plea deal
City of Reno attorney Mark Dunagan requested this week that Washoe County’s Second Judicial District Court keep disgraced former sheriff’s sergeant Dennis Carry’s criminal files confidential. On Monday, Carry pleaded guilty to three of seven felonies in a plea deal with the Washoe County District Attorney’s Office.
This Is Reno in 2021 sued the Reno Police Department over a litany of public records violations. The city had to pay This Is Reno attorney fees as part of a settlement after District Court Judge Kathleen Drakulich found the city violated the Nevada Public Records Act when it failed to respond to records requests within the mandatory time frame. She sided with the city on the remaining claims.
This Is Reno appealed to the Nevada Supreme Court. The state court overruled Drakulich’s decision on the city denying public records about Carry’s arrest. This Is Reno recently filed a motion to have the criminal files reviewed to see what could be made public.
The city initially denied This Is Reno’s request for the Carry files, saying that the city could not release the files because the matter was under investigation. The state court disagreed, citing a similar case from the 1980s in which the city denied a records request, citing an open investigation, which the state court overruled.
Dunagan argued this week that “the City reasserts its prior arguments regarding the interests in non-disclosure, to wit, that public disclosure of the investigative materials threatens criminal procedure and a defendant’s right to a fair trial.”
Carry already pleaded guilty, and a sentencing hearing is scheduled for April. Dunagan also noted Carry could withdraw his plea, and a jury pool could be tainted if the records were released, as well as “the resource costs associated with a resulting change of venue (a threat especially present in a case with media attention).”
He cited practices in Tennessee and North Carolina as further evidence of what he called “harmful” consequences if the records are released.
This Is Reno attorney Luke Busby fired back today.
“The investigation is over, and no trial is scheduled,” he wrote. “The public has been in the dark about the Carry matter for far too long. If the public remains uninformed due to unenforced public records laws, allowing the creation of ‘secret police,’ the democratic system cannot effectively address the scope of police power or misconduct—leading to mistrust and suspicion and a malfunctioning democracy.”
A hearing in the case is scheduled for Friday at 10 a.m. online: https://washoecourts.zoom.us/j/87133273464
District Attorney defends plea deal
Carry’s guilty plea drew reader allegations that District Attorney Chris Hicks gave Carry a favorable plea deal. The DA’s office recently changed its plea negotiation policy whereby defendants are “expected to plead guilty to the most serious charge or most serious degree of charge filed that reflects the nature of his or her criminal conduct, or go to trial,” a DA spokesperson told This Is Reno.
Carry’s plea is for three of seven felony charges. He faces one to four years in prison for each charge, but the remaining four charges will be dismissed under the deal. One of those charges is for burglary.
His guilty plea is for forgery, bigamy and offering false evidence.
“Plea negotiations offered by the Washoe County District Attorney’s Office are always made with an eye toward what we aim for: protecting the public by delivering justice,” DA spokesperson Kendall Holcomb said. “In this case, the crux of Carry’s criminal conduct consisted of committing bigamy, forging court documents to accomplish the bigamy, and trying to cover up the bigamy and forgery by providing falsified documents and evidence to Reno Police Investigators.
“While the dismissed charges reflected collateral conduct done to facilitate the forgery and cover-up, the Bigamy, Forgery, and Offering False Evidence charges are the core crimes of moral turpitude that reflect Carry’s conduct,” she added.
