Silent Closing

  • Law

  • The Bunkerville retrial went to the jury yesterday after defense attorneys declined to make closing statements. [Las Vegas Sun; RJ]
  • A group of Yale students responded to their Dean’s opinion piece on protesters in law school. [The Nation]
  • The Best Lawyers list, at least one step above Nevada’s Legal Elite, is out. 
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Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 16, 2017 3:29 pm

What was the division on the jury that deadlocked in the first Bunkerville trial, does anyone know?

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 16, 2017 4:09 pm

Congratulations to all those listed on the Best Lawyers List. Best regards from all the other Best Lawyers who weren't able to garner as many votes from the Supermarket Shopper readers.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 16, 2017 4:12 pm

I have no idea what the deadlock was but this was a ballsy move. Honestly having not been allowed to put on their case, I don't know what else the Defense really could have done other than make the jury aware that the deck was stacked and hope the jury noticed that the trial was slanted. Don't think it will work but may have been the only card that they had to play.

anonymous
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anonymous
August 16, 2017 4:25 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Agreed. I don't support the Bundys or their views, but this was a farce. Silence from the defense was their way of saying what they would not have been permitted to say out loud by this judge. Ballsy yes, but probably the most effective thing they could have done under the circumstances.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 16, 2017 4:30 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Yeah, I don't know if waiving closing is ever a good idea. It will be a good ineffective assistance claim later in habeas proceedings.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 16, 2017 5:26 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

If they don't close, the government doesn't get to rebut. In effect, the last word the jury hears is the defense standing up, looking at the jury, and saying "Defense waives closing arguments." If they are actually trying to get nullification across to the jury, that may actually be an effective method. We'll see.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 16, 2017 5:29 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

I also think that there was something effective for the defense about having Nadia Ahmad do the closing, the defense sending the message by their silence and then shutting up Myrhe from getting to talk at all. Lord knows the murder Navarro would have let him get away with. She probably would have allowed him to sign the verdicts for the jurors just as she let him do all of her pretrial rulings.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 16, 2017 4:46 pm

Totally unrelated topic: I was attempting to locate an attorney via the NSB website but received no results. I used the person's name, nada. I then entered the person's bar number and the response was no such number exists. WTF? How does someone get their name and current bar status completely removed from the Bar's website. I know disbarred attorneys still have their information posted there. Anyone have any ideas?

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 16, 2017 5:13 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Call the Bar.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 16, 2017 5:14 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Call Putin

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 16, 2017 5:17 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Call Trump

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 16, 2017 6:09 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Try just the first name or just the last name.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 16, 2017 6:40 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Trump won't answer the phone unless you pledge your allegiance to the KKK and the Nazi party

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 16, 2017 7:07 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

I tried first, middle initial, and last name and bar #. Nothing. This attorney was suspended in an order from NSC in January 2015 for CLE non-compliance.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 16, 2017 7:10 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Call the state bar.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 16, 2017 7:14 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

And while you are on the phone with the bar, tell them the results that are returned when doing a search are why we now have Google.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 16, 2017 7:53 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Perhaps he was a practicing attorney in another state, licensed in Nevada but disbarred in that other state? That happened to someone I went to law school with. After he was disbarred in the other state, his name disappeared in the Nevada State Bar directory. His bar number results is just blank.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 17, 2017 12:56 am
Reply to  Anonymous

Tell the Bar the OBC sucks.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 17, 2017 4:13 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Good point. Rob Graham gets the title for 2016 but Stan Hunterton for biggest douche of 2017.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 17, 2017 5:24 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Tell the Bar to give up the dial up service. They can afford it now that Stephanie Barker left the building.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 16, 2017 5:27 pm

Best Lawyers, huh? Sadly, not a good looking one in the bunch. At least the Legal Elite has some hotties on the list.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 16, 2017 5:30 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

I think you are confusing the list with "Best Lay-ers" which is a different subset of our profession.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 16, 2017 5:53 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Too many white people. Not enough diversity.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 16, 2017 6:10 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

10:53, Are you Don Lemon or Chris Hayes??? Its an honor for you to join our little las vegas legal blog.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 16, 2017 6:48 pm

I'm more interested in the "Best Lay-ers" list. where do I find that one?

Lawyer Bird
Guest
Lawyer Bird
August 16, 2017 9:15 pm
Reply to  Anonymous
Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 16, 2017 9:26 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Does not look like it has been updated in 4 years. Maybe the next picture will be from Belize.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 16, 2017 8:43 pm

Question, who wins the Biggest Douche Attorney Award 2017, Easton Harris or Alexis Plunkett? Or are there other candidates? I think Rob Graham was 2016.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 16, 2017 8:50 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Alexis wins this award for 2017. Plus she is lawyer HOT.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 16, 2017 9:16 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Steal other peoples' money versus make out with an inmate? Sorry you harm people, you are the bigger douche. However Easton was suspended in 2015 so arguably his title was for 2015.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 16, 2017 10:57 pm

Congrats to all who made the Best Lawyers list.

Huge congrats to those who won Lawyer of the Year.

Lol to the sarcastic reference to the Legal Elite by the webmaster.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 16, 2017 11:57 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

How do they determine the Lawyer of the Year?

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 17, 2017 12:11 am
Reply to  Anonymous

They ask Rob Graham!

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
August 17, 2017 4:41 am

I think they tally the votes of other lawyers who have made the Best Lawyers book. It's something like less than 1% of the lawyers. Then they look at who got the highest score. Maybe they also look at cases won, comments made about them and presentations made at conferences, articles written, etc.

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
August 17, 2017 3:35 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Would that the criteria for becoming a "Best Lawyer" were as relevant as cases won, professionalism, legal literacy and the like — instead of the tally of a popularity contest in an unknown forum, publicized to virtually no one, and voted upon by an insignificant minority of friends voting for other friends.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 17, 2017 4:03 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

It looks like somebody is jealous.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 17, 2017 4:12 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Sounds like 8:35 is not jealous, just someone who actually knows what he/she is talking about.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 17, 2017 6:56 pm

8:35 and 9:12 are the same person.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 17, 2017 7:38 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

So not true.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 17, 2017 8:38 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

I am 9:12. I am not 8:35 (was not even in the office at 8:35) so the answer is actually incorrect.

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
August 17, 2017 11:08 pm

Let's see if we can figure who 8:35 and 9:12 aren't so we can try to pin down whether they're actually the same person.

We can start the investigation by excluding all Las Vegas attorneys who were named Best Lawyers. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
August 17, 2017 11:45 pm

I am 9:12. I am not on the Best Lawyers list. You are correct.