Discuss Case on Message Board Background Read Habeas Motion To Set Aside Conviction Video Index Feb. 7 Update Feb. 8 Update Abramson Profile

LAS VEGAS (Court TV) —After two days of dramatic testimony, a judge ruled against Jeremy Strohmeyer in his bid to throw out his guilty plea and go to trial for the murder of Sherrice Iverson.

Strohmeyer, who pleaded guilty in 1998 to strangling 7-year-old Iverson, had argued that his high profile attorney, Leslie Abramson, bullied him into the plea and that he, in fact, had no memory of killing the Los Angeles girl in a casino restroom.

District Judge Joseph Bonaventure, however, scoffed at Strohmeyer's accusations against Abramson, saying "the plea was voluntary and not the result of any threats or promises." He played off Strohmeyer's claim that a trial would reveal the truth of Sherrice's death, telling the 21-year-old that the real truth is that he murdered a child.

"The defendant has testified he wants the truth," Bonaventure said. "This court will accommodate him. This court cannot tell you why you did what you did, but this court finds based upon the entire record as a whole the truth to be that you, Mr. Strohmeyer, did, in fact, kidnap and kill Sherrice Iverson."

The judge's decision means that Strohmeyer will continue serving a life sentence for the murder, and Bonaventure suggested that the harsh reality of that sentence had led Strohmeyer to believe that he had been treated unfairly.

"To watch one's self deteriorate into the hopelessness that only prison can bring comes with it the sense of unfairness that justice was not served," said Bonaventure. "But for poor little Sherrice, the unfairness is that no matter what consolation the justice system may achieve she will never be able again to walk upon this earth and her family will never be whole."

Ironically, by deciding against Strohmeyer, the judge may have saved his life. If Strohmeyer had been granted a new trial and been convicted, he could have been sentenced to death.

His new defense lawyers, whom Abramson has said endangered his life by bringing the motion for a trial, acknowledged that criticism after the hearing. Robert Preuss, a distant cousin of Strohmeyer's, said he had worried often about a possible death sentence, but ultimately concluded it was his client's decision.

Strohmeyer's father, John, explained after the hearing, "He just wants to know what happened, and in the end if that means he has to pay for that with his life, than that's what it will have to be."

Preuss said Bonaventure's decision would be appealed.

In 1997, Strohmeyer, then an 18-year-old high school senior from Long Beach, Calif., was charged with luring the Los Angeles girl into a casino bathroom and then strangling and sexually assaulting her.

He confessed the crime to friends and ultimately police detectives, but his legal team, headed by Abramson, pledged to go to trial. On the eve of trial, Strohmeyer pleaded guilty in exchange for a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.

After 18 months in jail, Strohmeyer changed his mind. He said he could not remember the murder, never wanted to plead guilty, and had always preferred the death penalty over life in prison.

He told the court this week that Abramson had bungled preparation for the case and pushed him into a plea deal he did not want to save her own reputation.

During the hearing, however, both Abramson and her co-counsel, Richard Wright, testified that Strohmeyer was lying. The lawyers acknowledged they had advised their client that the plea bargain was a good one. However, both said it was Strohmeyer himself who ultimately decided to accept life without possibility of parole to avoid the death penalty.

The judge believed the lawyers, whom he called the "A-team of defense counsel."

"While this court is of the belief that, as Mr. Strohmeyer testified, Mrs. Abramson may have used a heavy hand in dealing with him, it was a heavy hand of strong urging, knowledge, respect, and in Jeremy's best interest," said Bonaventure.

—Harriet Ryan