Patrick Murphy, Esq., dead at 56.

We've lost another of the greats. We wish Patrick's friends and family the best. From his obituary:

Memorial "wake" in remembrance of Mr. Murphy will be 5:30-8 p.m. this Thursday, Sept. 16, in the ballroom located on the second floor of the California Hotel and Casino.

In lieu of flowers, it was Mr. Murphy's fondest wish that his friends send each other copies of the 1952 John Ford film, "The Quiet Man," starring John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara and Barry Fitzgerald.

Awesome. Well done, Pat.

Please use this thread only for well-wishes and condolences.

Lerner Complaint

Here is a copy of the Heavy Hitter Firm Complaint everyone has been talking about. Take .2 and give it a read.

(Thanks, tipster!)

UPDATE:

Thanks to Anon 8:54PM, we have pictures of the event. Could these be the young ladies mentioned in the complaint?

Friday Open Thread

Happy Friday everyone!

What's going on?

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)

CCDA and NLV Courts Continue Pissing Match

That August 3rd deadline came and went without incident, but North Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Stephen Dahl decided to lob a grenade at the Clark County District Attorney's office over the weekend.

Speaking to the press, Dahl claimed that 20% of felonies go unpunished for lack of a prosecutor. From LV Legal News:

“We dismiss a lot of cases,” he said, and there is a price to pay. This fiscal year, 2,625 felony arrestees were charged in North Las Vegas. Dahl said 539 were dismissed. Most of them, he said, were dismissed “pursuant to statute,” meaning the state failed to meet deadlines, such as holding a plea hearing for a detained person within 72 hours, or a probable cause review within 48 hours.

Dahl goes on to talk about a case where a man was released on a domestic violence charge and proceeded to kill his girlfriend and himself.

District Attorney David Roger says it's a funding issue:

The issue is manpower. District Attorney David Roger said he can’t send three deputies to North Las Vegas Justice Court because there are dozens of unfilled positions. “We’d love to have a prosecutor for every courtroom in the county,” said Roger, “but we’ve lost 60 positions.”

Our tipster tells us that the DA now sends two deputies to North Las Vegas - one stays in Dahl's courtroom the entire time, and the other goes back-and-forth between JP Natalie Tyrrell and JP Chris Lee. If true, we're not sue what Dahl has to complain about - but Tyrrell and Lee should be pissed!

It looks like Dahl is essentially calling Roger to the mat. The response, if there is one, should be interesting.

(LV Legal News; Thanks Tipster!)

Motion Denied

Yesterday, Clark County commissioners voted 5-2 and denied the Clark County court system's request to hire former state Assemblyman Morse Arberry as a lobbyist. From the LV Sun:

Some commissioners said they opposed the courts or anyone else using public funds to hire a lobbyist for the state Legislature.

Other commissioners said they didn't mind the court system having a lobbyist but opposed hiring a former assemblyman without a "cooling-off" period. Arberry resigned his post in the Assembly last week.

In the end, only commissioners Tom Collins and Lawrence Weekly voted in favor of the court's request.

Commission Chairman Rory Reid came down on both Chief Judge Arthur Ritchie and Chief Judge Ann Zimmerman for their rather simplistic "because I can" arguments ... right before the democratic candidate for governor apparently turned into a racist:

Former state Sen. Joe Neal came to the meeting to speak in support of Arberry, but was told by Reid that he wouldn't be allowed to speak until the public comment period.

“I have tremendous respect for you, but I can’t offer a senator a special privilege. This isn’t a public hearing,” Reid said.

When the time for public comment arrived nearly two hours later, Neal got up and condemned the commissioners, saying they neglected to consider all of the facts involved in the decision and discriminated against Arberry, who is black, because of his race.

“You didn’t take it into consideration because he was a black person, and you did not allow me to come up and speak because I sit there as a black person,” Neal said.

Playing the Ace of Race on a gubernatorial candidate ... priceless.

Looking past the county commissions' clear racial bias (if you can), why does the court need a lobbyist? Remember: "because they can" is not an appropriate answer.

(LV Sun)

Friday Open Thread: Holiday Weekend Edition

Happy Friday everyone!

Enjoy your holiday weekend! Assuming, of course, you're caught up on you billables.