April 24
Van Ray Kinder pleaded guilty for Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicating Liquor. Sentence: Fined $685.00, DUI School, Victim Impact Panel, Breath Interlock Device installed in vehicle for 12 months. 30 days in jail, 2 of those days to be served within 30 days. The balance of 28 days are suspended for twelve months under the condition that there be no violation of laws other than minor traffic offense. Fail to Properly Maintain Travel Lane — dismissed by DA.
Three probation violation hearings at the 11th Judicial
The defendants shared more than shackles and black and white striped scrubs. Each suffered from an addiction powerful enough to fracture families.
On Monday the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office brought Doniese Allen, 25, Anissa Nunez, 25, and Travis Nichols, 29, to the 11th Judicial court, presided over by Judge Jim Shirley.
Steve Cochran represented Allen and Nunez. Kyle B Swanson defended Nichols.
In the back of the courtroom, a baby babbled and cooed. She wiggled in her grandpa’s lap, too young to know why her mother cried.
Each case goes back a ways.
On Nov. 20, 2017, the court sentenced Nichols to 19-48 months for possessing a controlled substance for sale. In 2016 Nunez and Allen each got 12-32 months for unlawful use.
Judge Shirley suspended each sentence. With prison time hanging over their heads, the defendants agreed to several conditions.
They’d report to the Division of Parole and Probation every month. They’d get substance abuse evaluations and follow the recommendations for treatment.
For the length of their probation, they’d abstain from alcohol and other drugs, including marijuana. Random drug tests would monitor their compliance.
On Monday, each of the defendants admitted to relapse.
On Jan. 6, 2018, Travis Nichols registered 0.034% on a test of blood alcohol concentration.
On March 19, 2018, Officer Markus Heimbruch observed Nichols bicycling near the Cowpoke Restaurant. The probation officer told Nichols to meet him at the sheriff’s office. Nichols tested positive for a metabolite of alcohol.
On April 5, 2018, Nichols tested positive for methamphetamine and heroin. Law enforcement took him into custody on a no-bail hold.
Later that day, Officer Heimbruch and the police found Anissa Nunez at the Royal Inn in Lovelock. She tested positive for the same combination of drugs.
“It’s a good thing we found her or she might have been six feet under,” said Officer Heimbruch.
Later in the hearing, the court learned that Nunez and Nichols shot up the mixture together.
On April 5, 2018, Heimbruch and the Lovelock Police Department contacted Doniese Allen for a random visit. Nobody answered the door.
Law enforcement watched the apartment for two hours off and on. They noticed a back window open and close at least twice.
Later that day, LPD caught Allen and a male companion in the act of using methamphetamine. They arrested both.
Steve Cochran spoke in defense of his clients.
“Miss Nunez has been incarcerated the better part of the last decade,” he began. “What do you do with a person who has been through different forms of treatment but continues to use? I think prison should be the last resort.”
He recommended Drug Court.
DDA Jack Bullock replied.
“These cases have us scratching our heads,” he admitted. “But what message do we send people doing Drug Court? ‘Oh well, you can do all these programs and violate then come back before the judge, and he’ll reinstate you.’”
Nunez spoke to the judge.
“Don’t write me off as a lost cause,” she pleaded. “I’m 25 years old, and I’ve got three kids.”
She’d given birth to her youngest while in custody, she said.
The judge noted that Nunez had been through six different treatment programs.
“What do they teach you?” he asked.
“They give you skills to do better in life,” she answered. “But when you’re going to take the drug or not you don’t think. It’s just an impulse. I wish I could explain it better.”
The judge questioned why Nunez did not pursue aftercare with Step I. The Reno treatment facility offers transitional housing to recovering mothers and their children.
By the end of the morning, each defendant arrived at a different fork in the road.
Nichols would remain in custody until a hearing on May 7, 2018. He hopes to progress from New Frontier to a rehab facility in Silver Springs, Nev.
His long-term goal is to move to Wyoming. Nichols’ father offered him a job in the oil industry after he gets clean.
The judge remanded Allen to the custody of the sheriff until Wednesday, April 24, when Drug Court next met.
If the panel accepted Allen, the judge would order her release from jail and reinstate her probation, he said.
The judge revoked Nunez’s probation and imposed the original prison sentence.
“Those three kids deserve more,” Judge Shirley told Nunez. “You have to decide whether your addiction and the friends that come along with that addiction are more important than them. I wish you the best of luck. Let’s go off the record.”