Friday Roundup

The Nevada Supreme Court denied the Motion for a Stay of the O.J. trial [pt 2] brought by O.J.'s co-defendant a.k.a. That Poor Soon to be Found Guilty Bastard. (ESPN) So the trial will start Sept. 8. (Review-Journal)

Congratulations to the Latino law student organization at Boyd School of Law: La Voz won Law Student Organization of the Year from the Hispanic National Bar Association.

The New Celebrity Drama or Welcome to Vegas Suge Knight

Yesterday, we reported about the arrest and release on bail of former Hip-Hop mogul and longtime thug Suge Knight. If you don't know much about thuglife Hip-Hop you can read about it here.

Today, the arrest report was released (you can read the full report here).

Las Vegas Now has the highlights:

"This was apparently Marion Knight's girlfriend that was riding with him in his car at the time. She started punching him while in the car (he was the driver and she was the passenger) in an effort to escape, she grabbed the steering wheel and steered it to the curb. That's when she got out of the car and tried to run and he caught up to her," said Lt. Chris Carroll, Metro.

According to the arrest report, the victim, Melissa Isaac, told officers the two started
arguing after he got a phone call from another woman. Isaac said she confronted
him and that Knight started hitting her.

Thank God for Suge Knight. The lack of scandal in town was getting so bad I was actually starting to pay attention to the O.J. trial [pt 2].

Political Post

It's been a busy few days for all things Nevada and political.

First, a Nevada man was arrested with others in a plot to murder Democratic Party Presidential nominee Barack Obama. (Las Vegas Now; Independent)

Then, the Nevada Republican Party got called "inept" by the national Republican Party. Refusing to be out-embarrassed by the ineptitude of the Clark County Democratic Party, which failed to book a convention center large enough to hold all the caucusing delegates earlier this year, the state Republican Party recently attempted (and failed) to appoint, rather than elect delegates to the national Republican convention. (Las Vegas Now)

Finally, lobbyists for the online poker industry gathered in Colorado in an attempt to curry favor with the Democrats to reverse the statutory ban on online poker. (Las Vegas Sun)

End of Week Roundup

Congratulations to Deanna Brinkerhoff, who was named an associate by Holland & Hart. (Review-Journal)

Speaking of Holland & Hart, congratulations to the firm itself, which was named law firm of the year by the Las Vegas chapter of the National Bar Association. (Holland Hart Blog)

And Vegas has another celebrity trial on the way: former Hip-Hop mogul and longtime thug, "Suge" Knight, is in the Clark County Detention Center after police found him holding a knife and standing over a woman in the western Las Vegas Valley today. He is charged with assault with a deadly weapon, battery domestic violence, possession of a controlled substance and possession of dangerous drugs without a prescription, police said. (Las Vegas Sun) Update: Suge Knight is out on bail. (AP)

Weekend Roundup

No delay for the upcoming trial on charges of armed robbery and kidnapping.

Weekend Roundup

No delay for the upcoming trial on charges of armed robbery and kidnapping for O.J. Simpson and his co-defendant. (AP)

The highest profile divorce in the country continues with the lawyer for first lady Dawn Gibbons saying that Gov. Jim Gibbons has violated an agreement with his estranged spouse by speaking to the media about his wife and their pending divorce. (Review-Journal)

Congratulations to Assistant Clark County District Attorney Robert Teuton who has been appointed to fill the Family Court judge's position left vacant by retiring Judge Gerald Hardcastle. (Review-Journal)

A federal class action lawsuit has been filed in Massachusetts against Perini Corp. of Framingham alleging violations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Act. The suit, on behalf of holders of Perini Corp., alleges that Perini failed to tell stock holders about financial problems with its Las Vegas projects. (Worcester Business Journal)

Nevada may soon get rid of the duty to retreat within a home. So get your shotguns ready homeowners. (Fox 5 Vegas)

Chicken Ranch girl makes good? A former porn star/prostitute works her way through the 1L year at a SoCal law school. (Bitter Lawyer)

Congratulations to Christopher Stephens who was named a shareholder by Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck. (Review-Journal)

Lawyer Alternative Careers

Feeling depressed about being an attorney? Trapped by law school debt into having to work at a firm that is siphoning off your life's blood through increasing billable hour requirements?

Why not try an alternative career? Like, say motivational speaker/sex therapist/performer. (Las Vegas Sun) The Sun article reports:

It’s a feel-good show with a twist. Strippers and magicians put on a lively performance that masks an underlying message of getting in touch with your inner
self.

“It’s about helping people feel better about themselves, finding their spiritual path,” says Meg Bertini, the former lawyer who is producing the show. “It’s about finding out how to think positively.

“To find your sexy concept is finding your inner confidence, your courage. I think you need that to be able to make the right decisions.” Sounds pretty dry, until you learn Bertini strips to help make the lesson palatable.

Why not? Almost every attorney I've ever met is a pervert. Then again, I live in Vegas, where everyone is a pervert by comparison to the Bible Belt.



Curious about the career trajectory that leads a lawyer to produce a spiritual strip club experience? Well, Meg Bertini a.k.a. "Madame Meg" received a "law degree from Emory University in Atlanta but didn’t practice law. She taught legal ethics, was a ghost writer for lawyers, headed a foundation, did legal recruiting and finally founded a publishing company, Dream Time Publishing." (Las Vegas Sun)

Thurs Roundup

Looks like the Nevada media finally picked up on the fact that a $388 million judgment was issued in the Hyatt tax case. An article states that lawyers for Hyatt expect an appeal of the windfall judgment. (Review-Journal)

Meanwhile, O.J.'s co-defendant wants the trial to be delayed. Apparently, he's hoping that a delay will prevent a jury from immediately finding him guilty by association with the Juice. (AP)

Summer Associate Season coming to a close

The time when firm attorneys can pawn off their most tedious assignments on summer associates is rapidly coming to an end. So in light of the end of the season, we're going to put a call out for information on the summer programs.

Please send responses to nevadalegal@gmail.com or by leaving a comment to this post.

Tell us:

• how many interns/summer associates did your firm have?
• what schools were they from?
• how much did you pay them?
• how did they work out?
• are you going to hire them?

Results
Alverson Taylor: 9 summer associates; Schools: Boyd School/UNLV (3), U of Utah (2), Thomas Jefferson (San Diego) (2), Pepperdine (2). Summer salary was $5,200/mo.
Fennemore Craig: 12 summer associates; Schools: 3 from Boyd School/UNLV (2 worked in Phoenix; 1 in LV). Summer salary was $2,115/week.
Jolley Urga: 1 summer associate; School: Boyd School/UNLV
Lewis Brisbois: 3 summer associates; Schools: Boyd School/UNLV (2) and Duke (1).
Lionel Sawyer and Collins: 3 summer associates (2 in Vegas, 1 in Reno); Schools: Boyd School/UNLV (1), Michigan (1) and Iowa (1). Summer salary was $1,845/week.

And the fun was over

The Halverson hearing has ended. It wound down on Friday with testimony from former Halverson supervisor and former District Judge Don Chairez, who stated that Halverson was an excellent lawyer who worked to raise standards of legal work in the community. (Las Vegas Now). Both sides will file written closing arguments with the Commission. (Review-Journal)

But rather than go out with a whimper, Judge Halverson managed to create controversy again on Friday when she claimed that she had subpoenaed eight District Court Judges to be witnesses and all failed to show. (Review-Journal) The attorney for the Clark County courts, Jillian Prieto, appeared and stated Halverson failed to give proper notice and was lying to the Commission.

Meanwhile, the Las Vegas Sun has attempted to add up the cost of giving Judge Halverson her due process and came up with a figure of $200,000. (Las Vegas Sun)

Punitive Damages pile on the amount of largest Plaintiff's award

We reported last week that the "largest Plaintiff's verdict" in Nevada history was potentially handed down in the case of Gilbert Hyatt vs. California Franchise Tax Board: $138 million.

However, as many commentators have noted, the $138 million figure did not include any calculation of punitive damages by the jury. Well the jury came back with some punitives: $250 million more in punitive damages, bringing the total Plaintiff's verdict to $388 million for Mr. Hyatt. (Sacramento Bee) [someone should ask him which island he will be buying with his winnings].

Congratulations again to Plaintiff's counsel, Peter Bernhard of Bullivant Houser Bailey and Mark Hutchison from Hutchison & Steffen.

And, to clear up the prior debate over lead counsel, the Sacramento Bee reported:

Hyatt's lead counsel, Mark A. Hutchison, called the jury's awards "the shot heard 'round the world " for taxing agencies that abuse their power. "Government agencies should pause and reflect on the significance of this verdict," he said.

Because you loved his testimony in print--video of Bailiff Testifying at Halverson Hearing

Why doesn't President Bush do something about her!

Live Halverson coverage continues

You find find a link for live coverage at lasvegasnow.com.

[photo and caption courtesy of abovethelaw.com]

Halverson Day. . . um . . . 6 Recap

We didn't have much coverage of the Halverson hearing yesterday. Couldn't find a link forever. It's a shame really. The Review-Journal reports Halverson broke down in tears when testifying and that the Commission dropped 3 of the 14 charges against Halverson. (Review-Journal)

The Review-Journal reports:

At the hearing Halverson's lawyer, Michael Schwartz, argued for the dismissal of all 14 counts against her, citing a combination of legal technicalities and lack of evidence.

The commission unanimously voted to dismiss some of the charges, including some involving the creation of a hostile work environment, improperly contacting a Family Court hearing master and failing to explain written order procedures to her clerks.

And Halverson took the stand:

Her testimony Thursday was often redundant, so much so that the presiding
commissioner, District Judge Richard Wagner, frequently stopped Halverson in the
middle of her rambling answers and urged the lawyers to ask more pointed questions.

Halverson addressed many of the allegations in the commission's complaint.
One count accuses Halverson of using the term "faux Jew" in front of two of her staffers. Halverson explained she used the term as a joke in comparing the two women, one who was a devout Jew and one who was not.

And then there were the tears:

Halverson, 50, later broke into tears when testifying about finding evidence of what she called ticket fixing by her then-executive assistant, Ileen Spoor. "There were hundreds of tickets, and I thought, 'This is so inappropriate,'" she said. "I was stunned. I was devastated when I found out what was going on in my office."
When Nash Holmes asked Halverson why she cried, she said, "I didn't realize it still affected me so badly."

And she testified about the conspiracy to "get her":

Halverson testified that she found e-mails on Spoor's computer showing a conspiracy among court employees to get the media to "print nasty articles" about her.

The hearing continues today and we'll get a link up for you.

In Other News--Mid-Week Roundup

In the Wynn lawsuit to recover $2 million in losses from Joe Francis, founder of Girls Gone Wild, Francis has alleged that Steve Wynn provided prostitutes to urge Francis' to run up a gambling debt. Wynn hit back with a defamation lawsuit just three hours after Francis’ filing.
Francis alleges Wynn was with Francis and the prostitutes in his hotel room and that Francis was told the women were Wynn’s “personal gift to you.” (Las Vegas Sun) [you gotta love this town]

A man who clearly wants to be hated by woman [and men who want to look at those women exercising] has one a ruling from the Nevada Equal Rights Commission that the Las Vegas Athletic Club was discriminating when it offered free enrollment at its gyms to women and not men. (Las Vegas Now)

The Review-Journal offers a breakdown of yesterday's primary election races that were automatic wins for the incumbent due to lack of a challenger. (Review-Journal)

How did we lose the biggest joke/embarrassment in Nevada history?

While we here at WWL are remaining neutral and detached about Judge Halverson's defeat [ahem . . . thank god she's out], other people have commented that they will miss having personality on the bench to make fun of--even if that personality is insane, embarrassingly fat, [allegedly] racist, [allegedly] violates employment law and can't stay awake for a trial.

But the smear left by Halverson [not pictured b/c photo of fattest cat in the world is substituted] on Nevada may not disappear anytime soon. A columnist for the Review-Journal is attempting to create an official new term: "the Halverson effect". (Review-Journal)

The "Halverson effect" would refer to the phenomenon where citizens work to become informed about the candidates prior to voting because they are suffering massive amounts of guilt due to their voting in a completely incompetent candidate in a prior election due to lack of information about the candidates.

Actually, it's a rather fitting legacy for Judge Halverson to leave. Maybe all states could pick up the term in their civics education. Then Judge Halverson wouldn't just be a lame embarrassment to the state of Nevada, but a cautionary tale taught to the youth of the country on why it's important to be an informed voter. "See kids, if you don't do your homework in life, you end up leaving Jabba the Hut in charge of justice."

Too scary? Maybe that should be reserved for spooky campfire stories.

Not Ready to Say Goodbye to Jabba the Hut? Don't worry, more coverage

Some of you have written in lamenting that Judge Halverson is rolling off into the sunset after losing the election today. Don't worry folks, she will still perform for everyone at the Judiciary Disciplinary Committee hearing. The Review-Journal says the hearing continues Thursday at 10 a.m. (Review-Journal)

Meanwhile, across the county, gossip blog readers lament Halverson's defeat. Abovethelaw.com has gone so far as announcing this defeat spells "the day legal comedy died". (Abovethelaw.com)

All the primary election fun--summary

Headline news summary of the election:
Clark County voters like pretty blond judges (Miley) over massive, bat-shit crazy whales (Halverson) and they seem to think an [alleged] child molester shouldn't be deciding child custody cases (Del Vecchio). (Review-Journal) [voter turnout was pitiful by the way (Las Vegas Sun)]

Primary election counting is supposedly over and the Secretary of State has updated its website with results from 100% of the precincts. You can also read the results on the Review-Journal results page. (Review-Journal) The top two candidates for each judicial seat with continue to a run-off election on the November ballot. [top 2 candidates noted in bold for your reading pleasure]

Here are the results (via Harmful Error):

Nevada Supreme Court Seat B (from Review-Journal since there is allegedly a problem with the results on the Sec. of State page)
Nancy Lee Allf - 22%
Don P. Chairez - 22%
Mary "Kris" Pickering - 25%
Deborah Schumacher - 24%
None of these candidates - 7%
(There's also a Review-Journal article detailing this race).



Clark County District Court
District Court Dept. 10
Jessie Walsh - 29.72%
David Rivers - 24.41%
Ian Christopherson - 10.56%
William Kephart - 35.31%

District Court Dept. 14
Donald Mosley - 47.31%
Laurie Diefenbach - 25.12%
Chris Davis - 27.57%


District Court Dept. 23
Elizabeth Halverson - 9.65%
Stefany Miley - 59.94%
Jason Landess - 30.41%

District Court Dept. 25
Suzan Baucum - 22.08%
Kathleen Delaney - 36.26%
Nicholas Perrino - 19.35%
Susan Scann - 22.31%



Family Court J
Kenneth Pollock - 23.59%
Lisa Kent - 34.81%
Morrisa Schechtman - 12.87%
Michele Mercer - 14.70%
Jamie Kent 14.03%

Family Court K
Nicholas Del Vecchio - 23.16%
Cynthia Guiliani - 31.29%
Vincent Ochoa 32.34%
Ellen Bezian - 13.21%
(Review-Journal article detailing the race here)


Family Court N
John Jensen - 30.58%
Gayle Nathan - 36.29%
Mathew Harter - 33.12%

Family Court O
Frank Sullivan - 32.85%
Ron Israel - 36.90%
Rebecca Wallace - 30.25%

Family Court Q
Bryce Duckworth - 28.69%
Thomas Kurtz - 20.57%
Allan Bray - 17.18%
Tony Liker - 9.38%
Carl Piazza - 24.18%


Family Court R
Bill Henderson - 36.26%
Chuck Hoskin - 17.88%
Maria Maskall - 16.04%
Fernando Guzman - 17.28%
Brigid Duffy - 12.53%


Henderson Justice Court Dept. 3
Sandy Allred-Gigiacamo - 28.39%
David Gibson Sr. - 38.78%
Harvey Gruber - 13.86%
Ann Purser - 18.97%


Las Vegas Justice Court Dept. 12
Colby Beck - 10.96%
Diana Sullivan - 53.25%
Steve Smith - 17.99%
David Linn - 17.81%



North Las Vegas Justice Court Dept. 3
Chris Lee - 40.56%
Jonathan MacArthur - 22.62%
Maria Perez Avilez - 14.75%
Marsha Kimble-Simms - 22.07%

Clark County Voters defeat Heavyweight Insanity

Wow! Apparently Clark County voters recognize bat-shit crazy when they see 2 tons of it pouring out of a personal scooter.

JUDGE HALVERSON IS OUT!!! Less news for this blog, more respect for Nevada's judiciary.

The Review-Journal reports:

While the Judicial Discipline Commission weighs the fate of embattled District Judge Elizabeth Halverson, voters delivered their own verdict Tuesday, deciding Halverson must go.

Halverson, who faces complaints of falling asleep on the bench and harassing her staff, received less than 10 percent of the vote, trailing opponents Stefany Miley and Jason Landess, who will move to the general
election in November.

A woman who declined to give her name as she walked out of Ruth Fyfe Elementary School said she and her husband specifically showed up at the polls to voice their displeasure with Halverson. The couple called her "goofy."

"I voted against her because of the recent happenings, her health issues [ha ha ha ha]... everything," the woman said. Voter Barbara Lloyd said she too wanted to be sure Halverson wasn't re-elected. "I want her out of office," Lloyd said. "I haven't been impressed with her at all."

Stefany Miley leads the voting and will head into a run off with Jason Landess in November.

R.I.P. Halverson's Nevada legal career. Who the hell would hire her after this? Maybe she'll just scooter off into the sunset.

Early Week Roundup

Nevada inmates will be doing a lot of handwriting of their habeas corpus petitions now that typewriters are banned in state prisons. (Review-Journal)

An article in the Las Vegas Sun suggests Justice Court Judges may be abusing their ability to have temp judges sit in their place from time to time. (Las Vegas Sun) [The Sun points out that the Justice Court Judges are not required to track how much time they had temp judges sit in their place]

A federal judges in Boston enjoined a bunch of MIT hackers from giving a presentation in Vegas in how to scam free subway rides in Boston. (WSJ Blog)

Voting and Halverson news--GET OUT THERE AND VOTE

Hey everyone, get out there and vote today. This is your chance to save the Nevada Judicial Disciplinary Committee the effort and simply vote the fattest, most embarrassing judge on the planet out of office. (Review-Journal)

So, get out there and vote Halverson out of office!

Meanwhile, the country is waiting with baited breath for the Halverson hearings to resume after the Disciplinary Committee halted the proceedings because Halverson has a gylcemic episode [i.e. she's too fat to operate] (Review-Journal)

Save them the trouble. Go vote her out of office!

Halverson Hearing Day 5 (dear God, she's not removed from office yet)

Breaking News: Judge Halverson just suffered a "hypoglycemic" event after testifying and the hearing has been suspended until after lunch. [I'm not a licensed physician, but I think "hypoglycemic" is defined as "having physical problems because you let yourself get sooooo fat] They will resume if she feels better. (Las Vegas Now)

If the hearings resume, you see a live feed on Las Vegas Now's website.

Yesterday, Halverson painted herself as the victim of too much attention from her Bailiff. (Review-Journal) She claimed "He tried to insist on putting them (slippers) on and off. We had fight after fight after fight about them because I told him repeatedly, 'I don't need you to put them on and off,'" she said. Halverson then attempted to show that she was being criticized for trying to break up a conspiracy where judges commonly referred traffic ticket matters to attorneys. (Review-Journal)

Today, Halverson named the witnesses she will call to testify at her disciplinary hearing next week, including Nevada Supreme Court Justice Michael Cherry and District Judge Michelle Leavitt. (Review-Journal) [uh, seriously. she can call a Supreme Court Justice? clearly this is too much due process]

Some highlights from Halverson's hearing today (via the commenter at Abovethelaw.com who has been blogging minute to minute through the entire hearing):

• Halverson views a violation of the 4th Amendment as "an assault" (link);
• Halverson claims that her Bailiff Jonnie Jordan told her he did not want to leave her court and later that he wanted to come back (link);
• she denies Judge Bell told her to stay away from Jordan (link);
• she did not require that Mr. Jordan heat and serve her meals (link);
• she never yelled at the Jordan (comment 274), never yelled that her water was not cold enough (comment 275) and never required him to clean the link off her robe (comment 277) (link);
• she says that Jordan is a liar (link);
• she never ordered Jordan to give her a foot rub. The Bailiff tried to rub her foot once and she said “Jonnie what are you doing? I said this is inappropriate" and made him stop. (link);
• she doesn't recall calling her husband names when talking about him to other employees, never called Spoor an idiot and never called Kathy Struber the devil incarnate. (link);
• she denies Judge Cherry talked to her about being civil to her employees, denies telling Lisa Carroll she was a faux Jew and "sort of" called Ken Pollack a faux Jew. (link)

By the way, if you'd like to read her most recent petition to the Nevada Supreme Court to halt the Disciplinary Hearing, you can find the petition and the Supreme Court's denial here.

Friday Roundup

Congratulations to Adam Smith, Xenophon Peters and Joseph Schmitt who were hired as Associates at Christensen, Glaser, Fink, Jacobs, Weil & Shapiro LLP. The firm also named Tony May as Of Counsel. (Review-Journal) Looks like Adam Smith is one of the Associates Lance Coburn stole from Lionel Sawyer when Coburn left.

Harmful Error has a link to Jon Ralston's interview of the judicial candidates for Dept. O. (Harmful Error)

[thanks to VD for the tip]

Largest Plaintiff's Verdict in NV?

A reader wrote in that the "largest Plaintiff's verdict" in Nevada history was handed down yesterday in the case of Gilbert Hyatt vs. California Franchise Tax Board: $138 million.

While the media has been busy with Halverson, the verdict was handed down from the jury in Judge Walsh's chambers yesterday for approximately $138 million. Plaintiff's counsel included Peter Bernhard of Bullivant Houser Bailey (listed as lead counsel on Blackstone) and Mark Hutchison from Hutchison & Steffen.

Whether it's the largest award in NV or not, congratulations to Bernhard and Hutchison for the victory.

We'll get you more info soon, but for now here's a link to a newsletter from the California Taxpayer's Association summarizing the issues and facts of the case.

Link to newsletter

[hat tip to J for the story]

Thurs Roundup

It looks like the Hep-C infected by Endoscopy Center are going to have to wait for justice [unless you consider Dr. "Needles" Desai's stroke to be justice served from on-high]. During a deposition on Tuesday, the clinic’s office manager asserted her Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination [Desai has already indicated pre-stroke that he will "plead the 5th" if deposed]. (Las Vegas Sun). Currently, the trial is set for sometime in October 2009. (Las Vegas Now)

Harmful Error has the contribution and expense report in the race for the Supreme Court B seat. (Harmful Error)

George Knapp decries the ethics and malpractice "enforcement" mechanism in Nevada for doctors. (Las Vegas City Life). He notes that physicians on the Board of Osteopathic Medicine don't think it will be necessary to bar anesthesiologist Dr. Scott Young from practicing medicine, even though they have strong evidence that he re-used syringes on different patients. [so any of your attorneys feeling down about the lack of ethics in the profession within Nevada, cheer up! you'll always know Nevada doctors are worse]

And in federal court, U.S. District Judge Hunt ruled that the First Amendment gives orthodox jew police detectives the right to wear a beard in conformity with their religious beliefs. (Review-Journal)

Reader's comments on Halverson

If you read a lot of blogs, you learn that the best material usually appears in the comments section.

This is definitely true over at Abovethelaw.com. They recently put a post up about the Halverson hearing and received the following comments:

Comment #11 went a satirical route:

(AP) Las Vegas - District court chief judge Elizabeth Halverson died earlier today during a court room proceeding to remove her from the bench, literally. Judge Halversons Rascal wheelchair (4 volt model) became lodged in the courtroom bench cutting off her air cable and leading to her eventual asphyxiation. The coroners office will need to confirm specific details, but courtroom observers say they saw her "binging on Barbecue Fritos, Vienna sausages, and Juji Fruits," and "filling her face with Hot Pockets, Twizzlers, and Twinkies" before driving up to the bench. Upon parking her Rascal, she continued to binge. At some point it appears she choked off her oxygen cable and began to struggle.

Unable to unwedge her trunk-like thighs from the bench, courtroom staff were unable to remove the oxygen line blockage. Judge Halverson was declared dead upon arrival of the paramedics . . .

And potentially new Halverson news from Comment #251:

“Why isn't someone contacting some of her former co-workers at the IRS? I used to work with Elizabeth LaMacchia (Halverson) at the IRS in San Mateo, Ca., and she was an obnoxious person with everyone ( taxpayers, representatives and co-workers.). “Elizabeth resented anyone that was slender, pretty and married.

Elisabeth forced a number of female co-workers to constantly escort her to the restroom on a so called afternoon break . She constantly intimidated CPAs and enrolled agents with her California Bar Association Membership Card; constantly insulted management and anyone with authority; made male co-workers prepare her lunch and "fetch" water for her on a daily basis, and "openly" harassed new trainees assigned to her by the manager. “Elisabeth made everyone at work suffer for what she perceived as "weight discrimination "by the by the IRS, when they refused to hire her as an attorney.

After observing Elisabeth for years as a co-worker, I can believe she used her position as a judge to get even with anyone that crossed her path. “This is one
"jackpot" Las Vegas can keep!”

All in all, this hearing is turning out to be as absurd as everyone thought it could be.

[hat tip to SG for finding the comment]

Halverson Day 3

More fun from Judge Halverson yesterday. First, U.S. District Judge Robert Jones denied Halverson's motion for a temporary restraining order to have the disciplinary hearing enjoined until after the election.

However, Judge Jones did not squash all hope for Halverson. He scheduled an Aug. 14 hearing for attorneys in the case to present arguments on a preliminary injunction. According to Halverson's attorneys, if Judge Jones grants the injunction, the Nevada Judicial Discipline Commission would be stopped from enforcing any punishment against Halverson, including permanently removing her from the bench. (Review-Journal) One of Halverson's attorneys, Michael Schwartz, was quoted as saying "We have a serious concern that her rights in this country are being deprived."

Then, in the afternoon, the disciplinary hearing was back on. Several more witnesses testified including two attorneys involved in a civil trial before Halverson. John Lukens testified that he saw Halverson slumped forward and sleeping during a case he had before her. He said he didn't want to wake Halverson because "you don't want to embarrass a judge publicly in a courtroom."
The other testifying lawyer, Jeff Braun, testified that he never saw Halverson asleep on the bench. (Review-Journal)

Then, District Judge Stewart Bell testified, stating that he was told that certain judicial orders submitted by attorneys disappeared from Halverson's court. Bell did not disclose who told him about the issue. Bell said he was told that the missing orders were from attorneys who were disliked by Halverson or who hadn't contributed to Halverson's campaign.
"It was very disturbing to us," Bell said. (Review-Journal)

Here's a summary of the Wed afternoon session of the Disciplinary Hearing from a WWL reader:

Halverson could not contain herself and here bizarreness really emerged.

For example, a routine witness from the agency that regulates security guards was called to establish that Halverson's two "body guards" that she brought into the court house bypassing security were not licensed. Halverson (on cross) demanded to know "the precise statute" (thumb and middle finger joined and held up, Halverson's head moving from side to side) that says you can prosecute the CON-SUM-ER for hiring an unlicensed private security guard.

Later, a local lawyer (former DDA, now in private practice) testified that his jury trial was Halverson’s first civil—and she fell asleep. Halverson’s “co-counsel”—who is actually more annoying than Her Fatness (he was actually biting his fingernails while posing questions to a witness at one point)—was boring in on cross, how do you know Halverson was really asleep, etc. etc.

She replied with her eyes closed, chin on chest, and breathing deeper than normal. The attorney then asks 50 different ways if the witness “measured”
Halverson’s breathing on prior occasions (the guy has know Fatso for 10 years)
to make that judgment.

Around 3:35 PM, a Fat woman in the audience—50ish, beach ball body—starts
laughing out loud. The Commission ejects her. She curses the whole way out and says “this commission should be ashamed of yourselves” before calling the proceedings "bullshit". Security was instructed never to let witness back in. It was quite a spectacle, and this was obviously a Halverson supporter. The woman was not Halverson fat—maybe 240 pounds—wearing slacks and tent top. Very trashy shoulder length bleach blond hair with stringy bangs covering most of her forehead. Ugly. Cheaply dressed. Real trailer trash. (In other words, a typical Halverson supporter?)

All in all, Halverson's doing a good job of letting the circus continue. I wonder how she thinks acting bat-shit crazy will play with voters.

Denied, Halverson, Denied

Judge Halverson's motion for a temporary restraining order was denied by U.S. District Judge Jones. (Las Vegas Now)

Word from the hearing is that bat-shit crazy Halverson tried to fire her counsel during the hearing and the Judge refused to allow it.

The ruling means that Halverson's Disciplinary Hearing will resume at 1:30 p.m.

Halverson's Federal Civil Rights Case/Motion for TRO

A few people wrote in asking for links to the Halverson Federal pleadings. However, blogger.com does not allow direct upload of .pdfs.

However, your wish is my command. The .pdfs of her Civil Rights Complaint and Motion for a Temporary Retraining Order are available by clicking the following link:

Halverson Federal Complaint and Motion for TRO

The highlights:

• Halverson claims the Disciplinary Commission is conducting the hearing in a manner violating her rights in order to "generate[ ] so much adverse media publicity so as to deny her any chance for re-election" as a judge


• She claims her rights were specifically violated by the Commission's decision that she could not delay the hearing to find new counsel, denial of the opportunity to interview witnesses and obtaining evidence though warrantless search and seizure of documents and other items


• She requests: 1) a declaratory judgment that the Commission violated her rights, 2) a temporary restraining order halting the disciplinary hearing, 3) Plaintiff's costs and attorneys fees

Weirdly, she didn't request psychiatric costs for her emotional distress, which she suffers from because the Commission doesn't understand that she's bat-shit crazy and should be able to do whatever she wants as guaranteed by the Constitution.

Halverson Day 2-update

In order to provide as complete coverage of bat-shit crazy Halverson as possible, we will be update the blog each day with any material missed from the day before.

First of all, a reader wrote in saying that Halverson interrupted the hearing yesterday to emphatically demand that the Discipline Committee members refer to her as "Your Honor" because she is still a judge.

Judge Halverson brought her rolls of fun to the witness stand yesterday too. The Review-Journal describes her testimony as combative. She stated that she never treated her former bailiff like a personal servant, touched him inappropriately or ordered him to spy on court staff. Additionally, in classic bat-shit style, Halverson maintained that she has been persecuted by political enemies who want to remove her from the bench. (Review-Journal) Halverson then testified that "This is a bunch of hype" and that she has "the absolute right to be acquitted of these charges."

Halverson then apparently drugged the water at the Federal courthouse because she managed to get herself a hearing before U.S. District Judge Jones on a claim that the Disciplinary Committee's hearing violates her due process rights. (Review-Journal) [we will write on the federal Complaint and the hearing in a future post]

Here are some other highlights from a WWL reader:

At about 3:35 PM a new set of Halverson attorneys entered the hearing room and served the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline and the Special Prosecutor with a federal civil rights law suit that Halverson filed under 42 USC 1982, and with a notice of exparte hearing wherein Halverson will request the federal court to issue a temporary restraining order to halt the hearing. (42 USC 1982 provides for damages and is commonly used in police officer shooting cases and beating cases.) Halverson also claims she has a petition pending with the NV Supreme Court to delay the hearing but the Supremes have not acted on it yet.

The disciplinary hearing will start late (at 1:00 PM) today, because the Commission and the prosecutor will be in Federal Court this morning. The hearing did go until 6:00 PM today, and it was electric.

First, the tech expert that Halverson hired to search Ilene Spoor’s Court House computer for evidence that she had been emailing information about Halverson to the press testified that Halverson said “don’t believe everything you read about me in the papers and then lifted up her blouse and then asked him if there was any “urine on it”. He thought that comment was so strange he talked to a lawyer, then the police, then the Commission.

Next, Halverson was called to the stand and tried to avoid testifying by asserting the fifth amendment against self incrimination. This was overruled. Halverson then implied that the Nevada Supreme Court might not follow the law as handed down by the US Supreme Court—which Halverson insists holds that the disciplinary hearings are quasi-criminal in nature and therefore she does not have to testify.

The Commission responded that there is a NV Supreme Court cases that decided that very issue holding that the judge in question could not blanket take the 5th,
but could only assert the 5th on a question by question basis if the question created the risk of a criminal prosecution. Halverson then said that the “court” would resolve that issue “tomorrow”.

Nash-Holms (the prosecutor) then asked series of questions running through most of the accusations (ask Jordan to rub feet, ever touch him, call your law clerk a faux Jew, etc. etc.). Halverson denied every core allegation against her with a series of
"No"s, then got very combative and argumentative with the prosecutor and the
Commission adjourned at 6:00 PM.

All in all, a banner day for the blob of insanity. The Committee members should take care. Word is if you're around Halverson for too long, she drives you crazy or eats you instead.

Halveron-Jabba comparison

This blog can be rather . . . well, bitchy. And when we get the chance to be bitchy in response to reader requests, we're all for it. So here you go. By reader request, we present a history of the Halverson/Jabba comparison:

The Review-Journal editorial cartoonist was the first to make the visual allegory:

But we will let you judge for yourselves whether there is a resemblance:

Wed Roundup--chock full of election notes

Harmful Error has posted Contribution and Expense reports for candidates for the following judicial races:

Supreme Court
Supreme Court D

District Court Departments

Dept. 6

Dept. 7

Dept. 8

Dept. 10

Dept. 12

Dept. 14

Dept. 17

Dept. 23

Dept. 25

(Harmful Error)

Meanwhile, Justice Gibbons is doing a great job fundraising with $316,000 in contributions (Review-Journal) and Supreme Court candidates appear to be making big loans to their own campaigns (Reno Gazette-Journal)

And the Nevada political blogs are starting to weigh in on the Judicial elections. Nevada Confidential has posted its endorsements for judicial seats. (Nevada Confidential)

Don't go against the [Leavitt] Family lest you incur the wrath of Andrew

[Note: we've reported on this Andrew Leavitt story before (link to older post here), but not with the flair or links to evidence it deserved]

Judge Michelle Leavitt's brother, Andrew Leavitt, apparently runs a judicial campaign like an old school mobster. Step out of line or criticize Judge Leavitt too harshly and Andrew will threaten to deal with your "lies and misrepresentations . . . accordingly" or simply declare you his "enemy".

The first instance of Andrew Leavitt's baseball bat style of campaigning came when Kurt Harris, who is challenging Judge Leavitt for her seat on the District Court, accused the judge of never having tried a case. Andrew responded in writing that Judge Leavitt had, in fact tried one trial, and that Mr. Harris' lack of integrity showed that he "should not and cannot be a judge".

The letter closed with a demand that Harris delete the "lies" and "misrepresentations" about Judge Leavitt and "[i]f it is not accomplished, [Andrew] will personally make sure that [the] lies and scandalous misrepresentations are dealt with accordingly." (full letter available here with comments from Mr. Harris available here)

Mr. Harris said that he felt the letter was threatening and the Review-Journal reported on the controversy. (Review-Journal)

Then, on March 28, Andrew Leavitt sent a letter to his former friend, Osvaldo "Ozzie" Fumo, who has known the Leavitts for years after Fumo supported Leavitt's challenger. According to the Review-Journal, Andrew Leavitt's letter stated:

It is amazing to me that you would put our friendship, my sister's friendship, and the entire Leavitt Family friendship down the drain for someone that you don't even know . . . To me this is outrageous and I have no other choice, but to consider yourself a permanent enemy to both myself, my sister and the entire Leavitt family.

Sounds like someone has been watching too many Martin Scorsese movies.

Rolls of laughter--Halverson trial day 2

If you weren't watching CNN's live coverage of Judge Halverson's continuing attempt to make the country believe Nevada will allow anyone to practice law in the state (or be a judge here) no matter how insane they are, you missed some good stuff.

Yesterday, her former Bailiff Johnnie Jordan was unable to hide his disgust that Halverson [ballooning up in the picture to the left] was even allotted a chance to explain herself.
The Review-Journal reports:

During a Monday disciplinary hearing in Las Vegas, Jordan testified that Halverson treated him like a personal slave. An overwhelmed Jordan yelled that he had been robbed of his dignity and then broke down weeping.

"I can't stand what she did to me! My question is why?" Jordan shouted at Halverson and the seven members of the Judicial Discipline Commission. "What's it say about
America? What's it say about the president of the United States? If you guys allow her to be in office after all this, what does this say about all you? This is bull crap!"

(Video of the testimony available here)
Wow, Halverson is so repugnant, offensive and embarassing that Mr. Jordan believes the President of the United States should step in.

Today, Chief Judge Kathy Hardcastle testified that Halverson didn’t respect the court and forced staff to spend too much time dealing with complaints about her. According to Hardcastle, staff, jurors and judges complained about Halverson’s behavior. She said judges even refused to attend meetings if they knew Halverson would be present. (Review-Journal)

Tuesday Roundup

The crackpot who brought ricin to a Vegas hotel room plead guilty to possession of a biological toxin before U.S. District Judge Robert Jones because the feds figure he had no intention of harming anyone. (Review-Journal) [uh . . . snap judgment on this one--owning an airborne toxin should be a strict liability crime]

File this one under dumbest prostitute ever: yesterday, a working girl propositioned Syeve Wynn in his casino. When he attempted to escort the escort to the door, she slapped him in the face. (Review-Journal)

Lake Las Vegas may be bailed out of its financial collapse. Bankruptcy Judge Linda Riegle said she will sign an order approving $127 million in post-bankruptcy financing for Lake Las Vegas, following a recommendation from a committee of unsecured creditors. (Review-Journal)

An in the build-up to O.J. trial [pt 2], yet another of the Juice's co-defendants has pled guilty and agreed to testify against the former NFL star and [acquitted] ex-wife murderer. (Review-Journal) [I hope Johnnie Cochran left some more cute rhyming closing arguments behind when he died or the Juice is in serious trouble].

The Day is finally here--Judge Halverson hearing

The disciplinary hearing for our state's national embarrassment began today. Yes, that's right, Judge Halverson's fight to stay on the bench no matter what procedures and laws she violates/the fight of all sane people to keep her off the bench is nearing its conclusion.

And to celebrate the complete ludicrousness of Judge Halverson's argument [and existence], Abovethelaw.com is posting updates as the hearing goes on. (Abovethelaw.com) Where are they getting their updates? CNN, of course! (CNN.com) The Judge is such a national joke that CNN thinks the hearing merits live streaming so that anyone on the internet can share in Nevada's embarrassment.

Meanwhile, the prosecutor may actually be being a little too zealous on this one. He has asked that Judge Halverson not be allowed to call any witnesses. (KTNV) I'm all for getting her off the bench ASAP, but let's not leave the hearing's judgment open to a due process challenge.

And Halverson opened the hearing with a classic Halverson move--she argued that the hearing should be stayed [so voters wouldn't be able to learn about how bad a judge she is prior to the election]. (Review-Journal)

Apparently that argument didn't work. The judge's former bailiff took the stand and testified to how Halverson "had him spy on court staff and told him that other district judges were out to get her" and that he "heard Halverson scream and cuss at her husband and court staff". (Review-Journal)

Trouble at UNLV's Boyd School of Law

An article in last week's In Business Las Vegas suggests that state budget cuts could send UNLV's Boyd School of Law "into a free-fall, causing the Boyd School of Law to drop out of national rankings, lose vital community legal aid programs and leave students paying much more for a lot less education." The law school has already increased tuition from $9,800 last academic year to $20,000 (in-state) in 2011.

In Business Las Vegas reports:

[Tuition] increases were proposed to bring the law school's tuition on par with similar law schools across the West. They would enable the school to fund further growth in faculty, staff and other essentials.

The goal was to make the Boyd School one of the best law schools in the country.

But the combination of higher tuition and decreased state funding could turn the now
well-regarded Boyd School into a "diploma mill," informed sources said. Diploma mills, which are usually privately owned, accept law school applicants no one else will admit, often charge very high tuition, and have high rates of attrition and low rates of bar passage.

If this were to happen, the community service mission currently at the core of Boyd School's curricula would likely disappear along with a top 100 ranking from U.S. News & World Report.

Nevada Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, executive director of Clark County Legal Services, has suggested that the budget would change the nature of Boyd School, eliminating the school's innovative legal services programs and altering the curriculum. She suggests the changes would result in fewer Las Vegans going to law school here and a reduction in pro bono services provided to Nevada's poor.

Ouch. Boyd School just recently lept into the Top 100 law schools. If the cuts are as drastic as projected, the school may drop through the rankings like a rock. Combine that with an $11,000 increase in tuition and I'm not sure who's going to enroll.

End of Week Roundup

The judicial elections are creeping up on us. Aug. 12 is right around the bend.

And Harmful Error is still doing a bang up job of election coverage, noting that the candidates for Supreme Court seat B appeared on tv yesterday (Harmful Error) and providing a run down of the race for Family Court Dept. O between Ron Israel, Frank Sullivan and Rebecca Wallace. (Harmful Error)

Meanwhile, the Review-Journal notes that Judge Weller, the jurist shot by crazier than crazy Darren Mack, has received awful ratings in the attorney survey. (Review-Journal)

The Reno Gazette-Journal details the race for the seat on the Supreme Court. (RGJ)

And an editorial says that Judge Walsh and [alleged] child molester Judge Del Vecchio should be voted off the bench. (Review-Journal) [the writer is clearly willing to take a tough stand on the unpopular position that child molesters don't belong on the bench. what courage!]

In Hep-C news, Dr. Needles Desai's medical board hearing has been postponed due to his stroke, but the Clark Co. D.A.'s investigation continues unabated. (Las Vegas Now)

Bankruptcy attorney Frank Merola says that bankruptcy is "inevitable" for some of the casinos due to the economic downturn and competition from other Vegas entities. (Las Vegas Sun)

In OJ trial [pt 2], Judge Jackie Glass is seeking a subpoena for a man who might have recorded a conversation that allegedly contradicts what a key prosecution witness said under oath at a November preliminary hearing. (Review-Journal)

Over in the Pacman Jones strip club shooting trial, the alleged gunman has been moved to Clark Co. from where he was arrested in Washington state. (Las Vegas Sun)