Just imagine what the people in Nye County who aren't the DA are up to.

Our favorite drunken fraudster DA has done it again.

Nye County District Attorney Bob Beckett was arrested on suspicion of DUI a little before 11 p.m. on Tuesday. Now in lame-duck status after four terms in office, what has he really got to lose? Live it up, Bob.

(LV Now)

Claus Is Out ... But The Case Goes On

Nye County District Attorney Bob Beckett re-filed the same charges against Detective David Boruchowitz roughly nine hours after Pahrump Justice of the Peace Tina Brisebill struck down the first criminal complaint against Boruchowitz because she said Beckett lacked the authority to name CCC as a special prosecutor.

From the RJ:

Boruchowitz was scheduled for arraignment on Monday. Instead, Brisebill ruled on a motion the detective filed Friday seeking to have the charges thrown out.

The judge wrote that Beckett was free to refile the charges under his own signature or that of a "statutorily authorized deputy district attorney."

That is exactly what Beckett did Monday afternoon.

This time around, the total number of charges has been upped to 27 and divided into two separate criminal complaints.

Take that, Detective - see if you can file two motions to dismiss. Bwa-ha-ha-haaaaa!

Beckett said that the case"might find itself going all the way to the Supreme Court, I don't know." However, Nye County Sheriff Tony DeMeo put it another way: "Get your Dramamine out. I think this thing is going to give people motion sickness."

(LVRJ; Thanks, Tipster!)

Criminal Prosecution Is War!

Nye County District Attorney Bob Beckett is not going to take the investigation into his alleged embezzlement of bad check funds lying down ... he has named Las Vegas attorney C. Conrad Claus ("Law is war") as a special prosecutor to pursue criminal charges against one of the the sheriff's detectives involved with the investigation. From the RJ:

Nye County Manager Richard Osborne said officials are drafting a request to have a district judge appoint an independent prosecutor to review the case against Beckett.

Until then, Osborne said, the county has no intention of recognizing the authority of Claus or any other special prosecutor the district attorney might name.

We wouldn't say that to Claus' face ... the guy has a sword on his website.

The 25 counts filed against the detective stem from alleged actions against Scott Cobel and Ted Holmes, who were candidates for Nye County sheriff, and District Attorney Robert Beckett.

Claus claims that the detective is "looking at the rest of his life in prison" if he is convicted on all the charges - or a no holds barred cage match, whatever he prefers.

As an aside ... what's with the way the papers photographed Claus for this story? Compare the LV Sun photo to RJ photo, above. How long did he stand like that ... gazing off into the distance?

(LVRJ; LV Sun; Thanks, Tipster!)

***UPDATE***

Looks like CCC didn't get to play prosecutor for long. A Nye County JP threw out the complaint against the detective today after he filed a motion to strike the criminal complaint which challenged the legitimacy of Claus’ appointment as a special prosecutor.

(Thanks, Tipster!)

The Nyes Have It!

According to the RJ, Nye County District Attorney Robert Beckett was arrested Wednesday morning on fraud and embezzlement charges in connection with a bank account his office managed for more than 13 years.

Beckett has been charged with more than 40 counts, including 20 counts of fraudulent appropriation of property, 20 counts of misconduct of a public officer, one count of malfeasance of office and one count of embezzlement.

Seriously. The District Attorney.

The account in question was used to hold money from people charged with writing bad checks. The money was supposed to be used to reimburse victims of bad checks. Bad-check writers also must pay fees on top of their reimbursements.

Problem is, the account came up a bit short during a recent audit. Beckett's explanation for the shortfall is classic:

Beckett last week said the fund was being phased out because "people aren't writing bad checks anymore."

Yay! Only "good checks" in Nye County from now on - problem solved. Give that man another term in office!

You may remember Beckett as the DA who managed to wreck two vehicles in six hours while driving drunk back in June of 2008. He is, incredibly, running for his fifth term as Nye County DA ... but this time he has some stiff competition. [Rimshot!]

The election will (hopefully) come down to a choice between Ron Kent, Beckett's former chief civil deputy and Brian Kunzi, a senior deputy attorney general. Although, maybe it would be better for us if Beckett stayed in office. Who knows what he'll do next?!

(LVRJ; Thanks Tipsters!)