DEFENDANT'S REQUEST FOR HAIR DYE REJECTED.

Byline: Jesse Hiestand Staff Writer

Murder suspect Sandi Nieves' bid to dye her hair before she goes on trial in the deaths of her four daughters suffered a setback Monday when the judge refused to order jailers to honor the request.

In denying Nieves' request, San Fernando Superior Court Judge L. Jeffrey Wiatt acknowledged the safety and security concerns raised by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department over the dye job, according to prosecutors.

``It would obviously be a big problem for them if people could change their appearance and have access to those chemicals in jail,'' said Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman. ``(Wiatt) said he's not going to tell the Sheriff's Department how to run their jails.''

Despite his ruling, Wiatt left open the option for Nieves and her attorney, Deputy Public Defender Howard Waco, to take their request back to a judge who allowed the dye job on a previous occasion.

Sheriff's officials said it was a fluke that Nieves was once allowed to dye her hair in jail and they do not want it to happen again at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in downtown Los Angeles.

Waco, who did not return phone calls, has said Nieves has the right to present herself to jurors in the way she looked at the time of her arrest. Her natural brown hair has turned gray since her arrest in July 1998.

Nieves, 35, is next due in court Jan. 20 for trial setting.

She could face the death penalty if convicted of murdering her daughters.

Nieves was also charged with arson and the attempted murder of her son, David Nieves, then 13.

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Photo

PHOTO (color) Sandi Nieves

Accused of killing daughters

John McCoy/Staff Photographer