A Clark County public defender told a judge Monday that the sudden shutdown of the downtown public defender’s office has blown a hole in preparations for a death penalty case and asked to bump the trial off the October calendar. The evacuation, the attorney said, has forced deputies to work remotely with limited access to files and investigators. District Court Judge Jacqueline Bluth refused to move the Oct. 5 trial date for now, but set another status check later this month to see if that decision holds.
Special Public Defender Tyler Gaston asked Judge Bluth to continue the trial of Chad Newman, arguing that the firm’s abrupt move out of its longtime downtown building has made it impossible to finish the exhaustive prep work a capital case requires. Gaston urged the court to push the Newman trial to April 2027 and described defenders working from home on county laptops instead of in their usual offices. Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher Hamner said prosecutors believe they can be ready for an October trial, but would not oppose a continuance, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The shuttered county office Gaston referenced sits in the downtown Third Street building at 309 S. Third Street, which also houses the Clark County Law Library. The Clark County Public Defender office is tasked with providing full legal services to indigent defendants and staffing multiple felony and capital dockets. With the downtown building closed, defenders have been squeezed into temporary space while officials sort out what to do with the site.
Newman, 34, and co defendant Haydee Razo, 43, are charged with first degree murder, child abuse, and conspiracy in the 2019 death of 2 year old Jackson James “JJ” Newman. Court records described at the hearing say Newman called 911 after his son vomited and stopped breathing at a trailer at 2905 North Las Vegas Boulevard, and that the boy was later pronounced dead at University Medical Center, according to court filings and the arrest report. Those details were reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Contamination Claims And Worker Concerns
A May 15 letter cited by the defense claimed the downtown building was contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, and alleged that current or former staffers had developed illnesses, including cancer. Those allegations triggered an abrupt evacuation and scramble for new work space. Local newsletters and coverage have followed the aftermath as public defenders juggle remote client meetings, hunt for temporary offices, and work to secure their paper files. Inside Nevada Politics has outlined the closure and the workplace health concerns swirling around the downtown site.
Why Judges Do Not Hand Out Delays Lightly
Death penalty trials are heavy lifts, requiring investigators, expert witnesses, and full trial teams, so disruptions can hit harder than in a typical case. Judges, though, have to balance those resource problems against a defendant’s constitutional right to a speedy trial. Sudden office closures, staffing shake ups, or funding shortfalls can tip that balance and become key to whether a continuance is granted. For a broader look at how money and staffing pressures affect capital defense across the country, see the analysis by the Death Penalty Information Center.
Newman is scheduled to return to Judge Bluth’s courtroom later this month for a scheduling review. The judge left the Oct. 5, 2026 trial date on the books while she weighs the defense claim that the office shutdown is crippling their ability to prepare. Prosecutors told the court they will not fight a reasonable continuance, but Bluth signaled she intends to keep the case on track unless the defense can show specific, concrete harm to Newman’s preparation. The case is one of several capital prosecutions now straining Clark County’s public defense system as it tries to function without its downtown hub.
