Judge Robert Perry set July 30 as the date for sentencing.

posted on: June 16, 2010

On Wednesday, June 2, the jury in the James Biela murder trial rejected defense arguments for life without parole and sentenced Biela to death. Judge Robert Perry set July 30 as the date for sentencing on kidnapping and sexual assault charges against two other women, crimes Biela was also found guilty of in addition to the murder of Brianna Denison. Biela will be transfered to Ely State Prison to be housed with other Nevada death row inmates.

Death penalty for James Biela

posted on: June 3, 2010

Death for James Biela. Justice for Bri.

The blue-ribbon-lined buttons bearing Brianna Denison's smiling face that appeared on the lapels of dozens of people in the courtroom after the verdict summed it up.
"It's what we wanted," said Lauren Denison, Brianna's aunt.

"It turned out right," said Barbara Zunino, Brianna's grandmother.

"Justice was served," said retired Reno police Detective Adam Wygnanski, one of the lead investigators on the case. "The jury had a tough job and they did it."

After three-and-a-half weeks of trial, testimony from 60 witnesses and nine hours of deliberations, the seven-woman, five-man jury rejected his lawyers' calls for life without parole and sentenced Biela to death for the 2008 rape and murder of 19-year-old Denison.

On the verdict form, the jurors acknowledged that Biela experienced a cruel and painful childhood but still agreed that he should die by lethal injection.

After the decision was announced, Judge Robert Perry told everyone in the courtroom: "My heart goes out to all of the innocent people who have been touched by this tragedy." He set July 30 for sentencing Beila on the kidnapping and two counts of sexual assault on other women.

As Biela was led from the courtroom in handcuffs, he told his family, lining the front row, not to cry and that he loved them.
"We love you, Jimmy," they called out as he passed.

On the other side of the room, where the Denison-Zunino family sat for almost a month, was elation and a promise to use the tragedy to make the community a safer place.

Brianna's mother Bridgette Denison, told a news conference after the verdict that they're ready to fight.

"Together we lost a beautiful, vibrant and promising life and my family and friends have suffered unimaginable tragedy, but we can and will turn this loss into something positive and good," she said. "When James Michael Biela messed with my little girl, he messed with the wrong families, the wrong group of women and the wrong city and state."

Jury deliberations pass six-hour mark

posted on: June 2, 2010

Update at 11:47 a.m. The jury deciding the sentence for James Biela has passed the six-hour mark in their deliberations, and just ordered lunch.

The seven women and five men are choosing between a death sentence, or life in prison without parole.

The same panel took about six and a half hours last week to find Biela guilty of raping and strangling 19-year-old Brianna Denison, kidnapping and sexually assaulting one university student, and raping another at gunpoint.

Update at 10:05 a.m. The jury in the James Biela murder and sexual assault trial began deliberations at 8:30 this morning, after failing to reach a decision on his punishment last night.

The seven women and five men debated for two hours Tuesday before Judge Robert Perry sent them home.

The most recent capital case in Washoe County was with Tamir Hamilton, who was convicted in 2008 of raping and killing 16-year-old Holly Quick, a Sparks teen, in September 2006.

The jury deliberated for several hours before sentencing Hamilton to death.

A Washoe County jury rejected a death sentence in 2003 in the case of Larry Peck, convicted of fatally shooting Reno police Officer John Bohach during a standoff on Vassar Street on Aug. 22, 2001.

The jury took three hours to convict Peck of first-degree murder, and another three hours to sentence him to life in prison without parole.

The Biela jury found him guilty last week of raping and killing Brianna Denison in early 2008, and sexually assaulting two other women in late 2007.

The prosecution asked for death. His lawyers urged the jury to send him to prison for life.

_____________________

The 12 jurors tasked with deciding the punishment for James Biela will continue deliberations this morning at 8:30.

The panel, which found Biela guilty of raping and killing Brianna Denison and sexually assaulting two other students, deliberated for two hours last night without reaching a decision.

In closing arguments yesterday in the penalty phase of the trial, which is in its fourth week, Deputy District Attorney Elliott Sattler said Biela deserves the death penalty for his crimes. Defense lawyers urged the jury to vote for life in prison without the possibility of parole.

While the jury must decide his sentence for the murder charge, Judge Robert Perry will sentence Biela on the kidnapping and three sexual assault counts. No date for that sentencing has been set.

Biela Guilty of Murder, Kidnap and Rape

posted on: May 28, 2010

Jurors convicted James Biela Thursday of raping and strangling a 19-year-old college coed during a string of attacks that had the city of Reno on edge two years ago and now will decide whether to sentence him to death.

A Washoe County District Court jury found Biela guilty of all five counts tied to the murder of Brianna Denison and sexual assault of two other young women.
Click here to find out more!

Biela showed little emotion, standing with his hands crossed in front of his waist as the verdict was read.

"It's a good verdict, well deserved," District Attorney Dick Gammick said. "Cases like this always strengthen my faith and belief in the jury system."

The same jury that took about six hours to reach a verdict now must decide whether the 28-year-old Sparks man should be sentenced to death.

The sexual assaults began in the fall of 2007 around the University of Nevada, Reno campus just north of the downtown casino district and culminated in Denison's strangulation in January 2008.

Detectives said it was the work of a serial rapist who stalked petite women and had a fetish for thong underwear.

Fueled by thousands of tips and calls to an anonymous hot line, a nine-month-long manhunt led them to Biela, who was arrested in November 2008 after his ex-girlfriend let police take DNA from their son.

Biela's public defenders called one witness during the trial, a DNA expert who argued there was less certainty in the DNA match than prosecutors contended, partly because the samples were gone when he went to test them to verify the county crime lab's conclusions.

Biela, an ex-Marine who studied martial arts, initially told District Judge Robert Perry earlier this week that he wanted to testify on his own behalf but then changed his mind on the advice of his lawyers.

Denison, a sophomore at Santa Barbara City College, had been home visiting friends when she was kidnapped while sleeping on a friend's couch near the Reno campus on Jan. 20, 2008.

Her body clad in only in socks was found in a field 26 days later beneath a discarded Christmas tree, along with two pair of thong underwear.

The two other assault victims said their assailant took their underwear.

After the verdicts were read, Denison's mother, Bridgette Denison, said the family would have no comment until sentencing was completed. Biela's lawyers also declined to comment.

Deputy District Attorney Elliott Sattler began his closing arguments late Wednesday with a reference to the comment a co-worker of Biela's said he made the day Denison's body was found: "The (expletive) probably had it coming."

Sattler said that comment offered "chilling insight into the mind of a killer."

Jay Slocum, one of Biela's public defenders, said prosecutors were glossing over significant differences in the three attacks that would suggest the crimes were not committed by the same person.

Jurors began hearing later Thursday from witnesses during the penalty phase of the trial.

Deputy District Attorney Chris Hicks said prosecutors would be seeking the death penalty. "This has been an emotional trial. It's about to get more emotional," Hicks said.

 

The Bring Bri Justice Foundation has created the Brianna Guide to aid in the search for a missing person. Additionally, the Foundation has created a search team to work with law enforcement in recovering missing persons. Currently, the search team is undergoing training from the Washoe County Sheriff's Department. The Foundation Center, in the Smithridge Shopping Plaza, will serve as the search center, in the event that someone from Washoe County is missing. If so, we will be in need of both search volunteers as well as donations, so please add your name to the volunteer list and donate using this web page.
 

100% of proceeds go to The Bring Bri Justice Foundation