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Manslaughter charge against MMA fighter dismissed
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Jason Sindelar
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Updated: Jan. 21, 2011 | 8:49 a.m.
A District Court judge in Las Vegas on Thursday dismissed the case against a mixed martial arts fighter who was charged after a June fight at a Strip hotel ended with his best friend's death.
Judge Michael Villani dismissed the lone involuntary manslaughter count against Jason Sindelar, 26, based on "wishy-washy" testimony from a Clark County medical examiner who did not say with any certainty that the fight caused the death of Demario Reynolds Sr.
Medical examiner Alane Olson testified at an October preliminary hearing that Reynolds, a former UNLV football player, had lethal levels of Ecstasy, with cocaine and alcohol, in his system.
Olson testified that it was "possible" the fight with Sindelar might have caused a heart arrhythmia in Reynolds, 26, who suffered from high blood pressure.
Sindelar's attorney, Deputy Public Defender Andrea Luem, called Olson's testimony "unbelievably speculative."
Olson also testified that she originally ruled Reynolds' death an accident because of the drug overdose but changed it to homicide after consulting other medical examiners. Olson said the key to the change was how quickly Reynolds collapsed after fighting Sindelar.
"It's significant because physical altercations have the potential to stimulate a person,'' Olson testified. "It is possible the combination of those factors was enough to stimulate his heart into a arrhythmia or irregular heartbeat, which was the cause of his collapse."
In describing Olson's testimony, Villani said, "It's a lot of 'may have,' 'possible' and 'potential.' That's pretty wishy-washy."
Reynolds and Sindelar were best friends, having met at the Luxor, where both worked promoting clubs.
Authorities said the two fought after Reynolds tried to stop a fight between Sindelar and Sindelar's girlfriend at a swingers party in a Luxor guest room bathroom at 4 a.m. on June 19.
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@jackson....In past articles the family was referring to him as drug free before the toxicology came out. All the toxicology does is determine the amount of drugs.Which ruled out his familys thoughts of "drug free".I find this part odd as well "Olson also testified that she originally ruled Reynolds' death an accident because of the drug overdose but changed it to homicide after consulting other medical examiners".....Months later though ! Why werent these medical examiners consulted at the time of autopsy ? If this man was so brutally beaten his body sure would have shown signs that would have warrented probable cause for a murder charge. goes back to the judges ruling, "wishy washy"....Sounds like what happend,and what people said happend are two different things in this case.
What the heck? Are you not reading the part of the story where the dead guy is DEAD! Lethal dose - dead guy. What part of dead isn't dead enough to call it a lethal dose? And what does the dead guys hearing have to do with anything? That being said, where is the dead guys family and all their crying? Remember the first article on this? The family was raving about how good this boy was, how kind, caring, and giving he was. How wonderful he was and how he would never do anything to harm anybody or even be in a place where anything bad was happening. Then the toxicology report came out. No more crying and whining. Kinda humurous in a morbid sorta way.
@bghs1986....I think the points being missed. The satement wouldnt have been made on the stand, and allowed as testimony if the coroner couldnt back what she said with facts.
LVCIT..."Under oath" means nothing. Just ask Bryan Yant.
@bghs1986, In reference to to the coroners finding of the amount of drugs being a "lethal dose". The statement wouldnt have been made under oath if there wasnt accredited studies to suffice,what is considered a lethal dose
This situation is tragic. The whole thing sounds "wishy washy". Who provided the drugs, is that person being held accountable? Im sure beyond anything that drugs influenced all that happend that night in one way or another.
Two things stick out in my mind here. 1) The coroner's idea of a lethal level of drugs is a joke. Unless your dead, it's not a lethal level. But that catch phrase has been used to excuse Cops who kill, so I have no problem that Reynold's was able to use it hear. 2) If Metro had tried to protect Sindelar's girlfriend from her abusive boyfriend, he would be praised a hero and given a medal. And no matter what had really happened, Sindelar's drug use would be all the Metro talked about
These ADULTS behaved liked teenagers. The brawl should have never began in the first place if these ADULTS had acted their age.
Wow, so what a slap in the face, this mma fighter left the room and came back in and continued to beat his friend, what a joke and this should let everyone know that the justice system can and will do what ever they want. I pray to God that his mother will sue Jason, the Luxur, and his fiance. NO JUSTICE NO PIECE