- Quickdraw McLaw
- 46 Comments
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- Judge grants Clark County’s request to remove Telles from job. [RJ]
- RJ seeks restraining order to stop search of German’s devices. [RJ]
- Report says Nevada violated federal law by unnecessarily institutionalizing children with behavioral health problems. [TNI]
- Nevada Supreme Court overturns road rage murder conviction. [AP]
- Superintendent Jara is up for a raise (at a meeting scheduled while teachers are required to be in class) after a glowing evaluation less than a year after the Trustees fired him and rehired him. Nothing to see here. [8NewsNow]
- ACLU files suit over hand counting in Nye County. [News3LV]
- A reader wrote in the following, what can you all tell us?
In Department N of Family Court (occupied by Mathew Harter) he is away from the bench “indefinitely” and the Department N seat will be filled in on a temporary basis by former family court judges Jennifer Elliott, Lisa Brown, and Cheryl Moss. The reason for the leave from the bench was cited as personal matters. This was stated at a hearing on 10/4/22 by Senior Judge Elliott who was filling in for the Dept N seat today. Is he resigning? Will there be a vacancy? When will judge Harter return, if at all? Will there be an appointment next year?
What is wrong with hand counting? The reality is that our trust in government has crumbled. With the FBI, CIA and CDC and what not, we do not trust or rely on the government. But somehow we are to trust more than fifty voting systems across the nation that it will be done properly and honesty. I think a reasonable person would believe that the elections have been or will be rigged. And why not. It is human nature that if the risk of getting caught are low, we will do anything to get what we want.
Evidence of prior election tampering or not. I don't see how a hand count is a bad thing.
Lawyers in Nevada have stolen hundreds of millions (that we know of) from clients. Every lawyer in Nevada should have 5 forensic accountants watching every case and bank account. I don't see how that is a bad thing.
Sigh. I remember when the ACLU used to stand for something greater than political advocacy. How verification of the count and signature matches is "wrong" is beyond my ability to comprehend.
@1100
Objection. Incomplete hyperbole…..umm. Hypothetical.
What is wrong with counting by using the voting machine that allows you to verify your ballot? It takes to long to hand count and can lead to “Interpretation” issues depending on the type of ballot. Can you imagine have counting clark county.
Yes. I prefer it to some machine that can be accused of hacked, being tampered with or otherwise possibly being compromised. Give me a paper ballot, certified and hand counted and reported ON Election night.
It worked, even in the 2000 Presidential debacle.
Lawyers stealing. How is that they don't go after most attorneys who overdraft, steal clients trust money and leave them high and dry. I just don't get it. I am only aware of the Rob Graham prosecution and no others.
Keep digging. There are plenty that don't get prosecuted. But lots that OBC digs and slams.
I don't think I have ever met a group of dumber individuals then our school board.
You're fired!
Just kidding, you're rehired.
Just kidding again. Your contract is extended another 3 1/2 years and a massive raise.
Seconded. But we also have to be critical of the Board's attorney(s), who apparently are not giving "advice and counsel" to the Board.
10:53–Before you go too far attacking the intelligence of others, please be reminded that in fifth grade we learn the difference between "then" and "than". Did you play hooky the day they taught that?
10:53 is born and raised, went to CCSD K-12, then Boyd '13.
@226
That was CCSD in the 80s. They don't cover "then, than" until Boyd, the week before homecoming nowadays.
CCSD is a dumpster fire and embarrassment. It's the biggest embarrassment in this town, and that's really saying something. Even by Vegas standards it is an incompetent failure.
Here's the full Telles hearing video from this morning. Judge Jones is spot on.
https://twitter.com/reviewjournal/status/1577683440367185921
Only watched for a second but that Judge drug the first attorney's ass thru it (admittedly the attorney has an unwinnable argument and he took his beating like a man)
There was no practical point to all this as Telles is in jail awaiting murder trial, he has lost his re-election and obviously, as a practical matter, will have zero effect on policy and operations of the office even though his term does not officially expire until the end of December.
So, all this really accomplished was to prevent his family(who are no doubt now in financial dire straits in addition to the incredible emotional suffering) from receiving his remaining salary from Oct. 5 though Dec. 31.
And how costly were these proceedings to make certain the family did not receive that (less than three months) of remaining paychecks
@3:10 – Where are these "costly proceedings" you're talking about? Robert Telles made approximately $120k salary ($170k including benefits) as public administrator. So he was costing the taxpayer $10k ($14,200 including benefits) per month for doing nothing. The taxpayers were saved approximately $45k by having him removed from office. Do you suppose the cost of a couple 15 minute hearings and a couple of filings from salaried public employees exceeded $45k? Seems like the County saved more than it spent to me.
5:37-You are right that 3:10 over-states the matter by suggesting that the proceedings to formally boot him from office cost more than simply paying the last couple months of salary.
But, on the other hand, you realize that the costs are not limited to pro rata salary of those involved in two 15 minute hearings. The time spent goes dramatically beyond each player being in court for 15 minutes. It can be guaranteed that the D.A.'s office spent dozens of hours on this matter prior to the actual hearings–time that could have been spent elsewhere.
It costs $0.00. They're salaried employees. They're getting paid whether or not they're discussing stopping Telles' compensation. And, since when should the family of a murder benefit? That's not to say I have no sympathy for the family, but they are not employees of the state and therefore not entitled to a salary.
7:06 -why do you keep taking the myopic view that it costs nothing because the salaries of the players involved remain the same regardless of what case they are working on?.
Have you not heard of cost efficiency and effective allocation of resources? If they are working on cases to the neglect of matters which may be of more importance, that is a cost.
Also, please have the decency to not falsely claim to have sympathy for his family, as you did in a passing reference, with much seeming reluctance to the concession you apparently felt compelled to make. Considering such statement of sympathy, against the backdrop of your other observations, it rings comically hollow.
Well, he's now out of office. It's a done deal. So let's say you two stop quibbling and move on to a discussion of more timely and pressing relevance–such as the Governor's race and Senate race. I cringe to consider how they might come out, but I wont tip my hand as to my preference, because it is too early in the morning for me to withstand a partisan attack, and I haven't even had my coffee yet.
I knew Judge Harter for a bit a few years ago outside of court and he was a very nice person. I don't have any info on the quality of his judging but personally he was a good guy. I wish him the best.
Good afternoon everyone,
This is Mark Fernandez, Judge Harter's Judicial Executive Assistant. I do not recall hearing Judge Elliott stating that Judge Harter would be out "indefinitely", but regardless, that is an inaccurate statement. Judge Harter is currently recovering from a medical procedure and will be returning to the bench shortly. He appreciates everyone's concerns; however, he is fine and recovering swiftly.
From a personal note, I know Judge Harter does not like to discuss his personal matters, so I know he would appreciate everyone respecting his privacy.
Hope everyone has a great day!
12:04 back, hey Mark you would know me if I said my name on here but I won't, just wanted you to know that I wish the Judge a speedy recovery and, as I said above, I think he is a good person, this blog has been pretty good about not allowing stupid name-calling, etc. to specific individuals so I would expect people to keep things civil
Hey Mark, really cool of you to post on here to update the community. Please give the judge our best wishes for a speedy recovery!
Best wishes to one of the few good F.Ct. judges. Heal Quickly sir!
Best wishes to the judge on a speedy recovery. This is the decent thing to do. I appreciate the JEA putting those rumors to bed quickly.
Thank you for the update – please wish Judge Harter a speedy recovery. He is a good judge and nice person.
So Telles' argument was that he could continue to serve his public office from jail? WTH? The relevant excerpt from the article is: "During a morning hearing in front of Judge David Jones, attorney Travis Shetler said his client, who intends to seek bail on a murder charge, could fulfill his job through phone and video calls from the Clark County Detention Center, where he’s been held with no bond since his Sept. 7 arrest."
The way I understood it is that his attorney argued there has to be some willful element of the neglect, and if he was doing everything he could given his circumstances, that wasn't neglect. Maybe not a winning argument, but not absurd.
The argument absolutely makes sense. Might not be a winner but not ridiculous. And I understand the application to a case where guilt seems so conclusive seems absurd. But think about the cases where guilt was not so clear cut and where the elected official is ultimately exonerated.
4:59-That argument on their part is so beyond absurd that it wasn't even necessary for the judge to address it in any way, shape or form.
Just really preposterous that they would think something like that could be successful.
6:15, and if that forecasts the type of legal representation and legal arguments that will be provided on his behalf, he needs to re-think the composition of his defense team.
If the "team" essentially consists of just one attorney, and these are the quality and nature of arguments Telles can expect, well then…
Telles is being represented in the criminal proceedings by Ed Kane. Not even the same lawyers.
That is just not true. She did not kill Jeff German. When the police executed the search warrant, they ransacked the house, throwing everything out on the floor. It was uninhabitable when the police left. Mrs. Telles had no place to take her kids because the condition of the home. Members of the Peccole Ranch Ward, where the Telles' live, spent hours cleaning up the mess the police left behind. The Telles' are not LDS, but did frequently go to Peccole Ranch Ward activities. That is the kind of compassion and support that they deserve, not to be lumped in with the horrible thing Rob did. Those kids have now effectively lost their father, the last thing they need is for the community to peg them with stigma or to marginalize or mistreat them.
A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Courtroom: Ross Miller wanders into Dept. 16 and Judge Williams appoints him co-CEO with 2 parties (CEO-ship is in dispute and "receiver" is a dirty word).
5 weeks later, he's the sole CEO of a publicly traded company.
Las Vegas Law. It's wild, man.
Now this is the news we need. More deets please. Even a day would help.
Law.dawg, sorry if I'm stepping on your toes with this. It's just super crazy, and I picked it up off of Twitter today.
https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/business_law/2022/10/nevada-business-court-makes-lawyer-who-happened-to-wander-into-the-courtroom-today-co-ceo-of-public-.html
Just read the link. Pretty nuts. I wonder if the company in question is even viable.
Ask yourself if this was planned.
You ask about viability of the company but the parties are being represented by some pretty expensive counsel. There has to be some value there.
Looks like money laundering to me.
Here is the transcript https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bKiMh4yPV1sAZ2rDFZbQrjZVK-pi6F-8/view