Tidbits

• Remember that lady who grabbed and shoved a 3-year-old child for kicking the back of her seat on a Southwest Airlines flight last week? Yeah, she's one of ours. (FOX Phoenix; LV Now)


• Our fantasy of having fantasies of a judicial ménage à trois has been crushed; our Supremes shot down Amber Candelaria's appeal. Think she'll take it up with SCOTUS? (LV Now)


• Rumors are swirling that James Pisanelli and the "polarizing" Todd Bice may be leaving BHFS to start their own firm.


• Our State Bar is "investigating" attorney Jacob Hafter, who happens to be a member of the State Bar's Southern Nevada Disciplinary Panel, for allegedly false comments he made regarding the possibility that Catherine Cortez Masto was being "investigated" by the State Bar. So cute how the RJ thinks our bar is capable of placing someone in the "hot seat." Lukewarm seat, maybe. (LVRJ)

Gibbons Bypasses Masto

After his current counsel refused to follow his instructions, Governor Gibbons decided to find somebody who would.

Mark Hutchison of Hutchison & Steffen (approximately one year after he won the largest plaintiff's verdict in Nevada history) will take the reigns from the AG and sue to stop the recently passed health care legislation on behalf of the State of Nevada.

Hutchison and Governor Gibbons appeared on "On the Record with Greta Van Susteren" last night, where Hutchinson said that he would be handling the suit pro bono. Hutch had this to say regarding challenging the law under the commerce clause:

The commerce clause is the basis that Congress passed this legislation, particularly the individual mandate, which for the first time in United States history requires U.S. citizens to purchase a service or good in order to maintain their good standing with the United States government. Otherwise, they're going to get chased down by one of these 16,000 IRS agents, and that's unprecedented. And the justification is the commerce clause. So the court will decide whether or not the commerce clause can be stretched that far.

Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto is reportedly looking at options to stop the suit, possibly seeking an injunction against the Governor pursuing the suit without her approval. Masto's concerns are solely legal in nature. You know, Rule 11 and such. Absolutely no politics going on here. Nope.

*Thanks to the helpful Tipster who politely pointed out that we have been spelling Mr. Hutchison's name incorrectly.

(Fox News)

Showdown!

Looks like there's a little scuffle a-brewin' up north ... and it ain't gonna be pretty.

On one side, Governor Jim Gibbons, who thinks the newly passed Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will be bad for Nevada. Gibbons wants to try to stop enforcement of the bill by either joining forces with other state Attorney Generals or by going it alone through the Nevada Attorney General's office.

On the other side, Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto, who wants to read the legislation and wait for a reconciliation bill aimed at refining it to pass, before deciding whether or not to take legal action.

Yesterday, Gibbons threw down the gauntlet and directed Masto to sue. Masto claimed that her approval is required for the state to take any legal action, and that no action will be taken. In support of her position, Masto relies upon NRCP Rule 11 and is reportedly also relying upon NRS 228.110(1):

The Attorney General and the duly appointed deputies of the Attorney General shall be the legal advisers on all state matters arising in the Executive Department of the State Government.

In the Governor's corner, NRS 228.170(1):

Whenever the Governor directs or when, in the opinion of the Attorney General, to protect and secure the interest of the State it is necessary that a suit be commenced or defended in any federal or state court, the Attorney General shall commence the action or make the defense.

Looks to us like Masto has an uphill battle on her hands. One of our tipsters made the following observation:

To me, that sounds like the attorney ignoring the client's specific direction, but maybe I'm wrong.

Doesn't sound like too bad of an analogy to us, what do you guys think? How is this "showdown" likely to end?

(LVRJ; Gov. Gibbons' Press Release; Masto's Response; Thanks, Tipster!)

Krolicki's Big Legal Bill

Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki recently disclosed the amount he spent defending himself from the alleged "witch hunt" put on by Attorney General Catherine Cortez-Masto last year. Turns out that Motion to Dismiss the Indictment cost him a pretty penny. From the LV Sun:

The report, filed with the Secretary of State, shows Krolicki made six payments totaling $159,370 to the Las Vegas law firm of Wright, Stanish & Winkler in 2009.

"They did a great job," he said.

We hope so. It would suck to pay that much for just a so-so job. The report also showed that Krolicki paid $25,409 to the Carson City branch of Holland & Hard, $5,845 to the Reno law firm of Robison, Belastegui, Sharp & Low and $3,450 to the Reno firm of Bader & Ryan.

That's a pretty big chunk of change to defend meritless charges. While the Indictment was dismissed without prejudice, somehow we doubt Cortez-Masto will refile.

(LV Sun)

Charges Against Krolicki Dismissed

It looks like Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto needs to brush up on her legal writing skills (or fire a deputy).

Judge Valerie Adair issued an Order granting Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki's Motion to Dismiss the Indictment against him on Monday. Adair essentially ruled that the State failed to sufficiently plead the basis for the charges against Krolicki, or, as our tipster called it: "Legal Writing 101."

Krolicki was charged with two felony counts of misappropriation and falsification of accounts by a public officer, and two felony counts of misappropriation by a treasurer. Kathryn Besser, as his chief of staff, was charged with aiding and abetting Krolicki’s alleged crimes. Adair's decision comes more than a year after Krolicki was initially indicted.

Krolicki recently (wisely) rejected an opportunity to disqualify the AG from his criminal prosecution after it was disclosed that Cortez Masto's husband was holding a fund-raiser for one of Krolicki’s political opponents.

While Adair denied the State's request to file an Amended Indictment, the charges were dismissed without prejudice - so the State could still seek a new Indictment from the grand jury. Perhaps the State should let Dominic handle the case if they do decide to re-file.

(LV Sun; LVRJ; Thanks, Tipster)