With A Closed Fist And Screwdriver In Hand

  • Law

  • The is a civil bench bar meeting today at noon. [CCBA
  • Here are some articles on Judge Jasmin Lily-Spells, a 2009 Boyd grad and former public defender, being arrested for domestic battery. [Fox5Vegas; RJ]
  • Opinion: DA’s race: gambler’s case folds quietly and now Wolfson is fielding accusations. [TNI]
  • Former AG Adam Laxalt and Sam Brown squared off in first debate of Republican Senate primary. [TNI; Nevada Current]
  • Here’s a look the three candidates for Justice Court department 7. [Nevada Current]
  • The Royal Links golf course is on its way to becoming a sprawling housing tract. [RJ]
  • No probation or prison time for former Las Vegas Constable John Bonaventura. [RJ]
  • Sentencing today for the husband who signed an Alford plea for voluntary manslaughter in death of his wife, attorney Susan Winters. [8NewsNow]
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Anonymous
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Anonymous
May 10, 2022 5:02 pm

Stabbed a playstation with a screwdriver? I mean, kids beat me all the time at video games but I don't go and try to break my xbox.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
May 10, 2022 9:50 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Has your husband ever left you to cook and clean up on mother's day while he disappears into the basement to play x-box and ignore your family?

Anonymous
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Anonymous
May 10, 2022 9:54 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Leave him.

anonymous
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anonymous
May 10, 2022 5:10 pm

Infantile.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
May 10, 2022 5:22 pm

I don't care about the husband. The stabbing Xbox is pyscho.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
May 10, 2022 5:22 pm

Psycho.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
May 10, 2022 5:22 pm

Psycho.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
May 10, 2022 5:22 pm

The only reason a woman would stab her husband's Playstation on MOTHERS' DAY is because said woman probably had enough of her husband playing video games ON MOTHERS' DAY while she was left to watch the kids.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
May 10, 2022 5:34 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Right, and that is absolute justification for physical violence. What were those cops thinking when they arrested her? Defund the police.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
May 10, 2022 5:43 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

throw

Anonymous
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Anonymous
May 10, 2022 5:25 pm

Sounds like Mr. Lilly-Spells set her up. She can break her own property if she wants to. He went up there, camera recording, in the hopes of antagonizing her into an altercation.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
May 10, 2022 5:32 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

That's a pretty wild theory. But even assuming it's correct, she took the bait. Is it too much to expect her to maintain her composure? Is it okay for her to go all WorldStar on her husband?

It's going to take some Chesnoffesque legal gymnastics to get her out of this and keep her on the bench. But hey, Miley slapped her kid around and held her seat; so there's hope for this domestic abuser too.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
May 10, 2022 6:18 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

WorldStar! Classic.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
May 10, 2022 9:24 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

OP here – I don't think it's a wild theory at all. The article states that they had been having problems leading up to this incident. She went upstairs with the games and was breaking them, he followed her and initiated an altercation and just happened to have his phone out and recording. I never said she was innocent. Clearly their home life is a hot mess, but he 100% set her up. She took the bait for sure, but I don't see him as a victim. He's a willing participant in this crap and their children will suffer all the more for it.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
May 10, 2022 11:23 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Her case is in Henderson Municipal Court. By far the worst to draw, they have created a system in which they love their convictions, churning high fines, and putting defendants in its Special Programs and Services. Cash Cow $$$$$$

anonymous
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anonymous
May 11, 2022 3:02 am
Reply to  Anonymous

How about just acting like a rational human, as opposed to stabbing an inanimate object with a screw driver? JFC.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
May 11, 2022 10:22 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Love this comment string. No one knows what really happened except the Lilly-Spells' themselves. Everyone else are fleas arguing about who owns the dog they're riding on (with apologies to Crocodile Dundee).

anonymous
Guest
anonymous
May 10, 2022 5:44 pm

As a result of our method of choosing judges, we wind up with an interesting mix of good judges, fair to middling judges, and judges who shouldn't be allowed within a mile of any courthouse. This kind of thing is not new. During my career we've had Goldman (a straight up lunatic), Bongiovanni (caught with marked bills in his pocket yet still acquitted somehow), the large lady in the wheelchair who was subsequently involved in a frying-pan incident (I kind of felt sorry for her actually), Mosley (always good to me but his personal life was a hot mess), Miley (no further comment necessary), and then Fran Fine and Steve Jones over in Family Court. I am sure that I have forgotten or blocked out a few others.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
May 10, 2022 6:17 pm
Reply to  anonymous

You didn't mention any of the corrupt scumbag judges who were bought and paid-for by the Medical Mafia.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
May 10, 2022 6:18 pm
Reply to  anonymous

Elissa Cadish.

anonymous
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anonymous
May 10, 2022 6:44 pm
Reply to  anonymous

10:44 here – I was sort of limiting it to people who had actually been charged with a crime, and/or had engaged in ridiculous behavior that rightfully made them look like fools with no business on the bench. Otherwise, this would be a long list indeed. There are plenty of others who might be justifiably disliked for one reason or another, or who were the subject of rumors that may or may not have been true but were never substantiated.

anonymous
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anonymous
May 10, 2022 6:59 pm
Reply to  anonymous

*I also did not include those who stuck around for a few more years after dementia set in.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
May 11, 2022 10:25 pm
Reply to  anonymous

11:18 — Cadish?? Seriously? Wow, guess that just goes to show that even the best of them can't satisfy everyone.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
May 12, 2022 6:35 am
Reply to  anonymous

Best of them,laughing.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
May 10, 2022 6:06 pm

Lily – Spells has some damage control to do. Her re-election campaign in 2026 is likely toast but her conduct should subject her to some sort of judicial discipline. If this type of thing does not have some component of judicial discipline, the system is flawed. Clark County deserves better than some clown that will use a screw driver to damage personal property and get arrested on Mother's Day. Voters deserve better. #psycho

Anonymous
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Anonymous
May 10, 2022 6:34 pm

Just read the Lilly-Spells article. While I fully support the idea of never electing Emerge Nevada candidates, her arrest seems absolutely ridiculous. Shoving gets someone arrested? Pathetic. Her husband is even more pathetic for calling the police over something so stupid.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
May 10, 2022 6:52 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Right, that brief article tells the whole story. She's stabbing and smashing things, she's shoving her husband, she's wielding a screwdriver. Is is difficult to think maybe there was more to it? Calling the police wasn't outrageous.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
May 10, 2022 7:17 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Lilly–Spells–Is it a crime to destroy your own property that you jontly own with your husband. Why didn't she use a hammer. More destructive power.

anonymous
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anonymous
May 10, 2022 7:18 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Reason #348 why I don't practice family law. People do not behave rationally.

Anonymous
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anonymous
Guest
anonymous
May 10, 2022 9:17 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

It is unfortunate that this AO is even necessary. Everything in it is either already in the written rules (and interpreting caselaw), or is a part of the unwritten rules and standard practices that I learned from the experienced older lawyers when I first started doing depositions. Unfortunately the latter seems to have gone out the window in recent years. So I guess I'm glad to see this. Just another symptom of the practice going to h*ll in a handbasket.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
May 10, 2022 9:22 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

This is fantastic. Like 2:17 said, there's a lot of unwritten deposition rules that we learn from older attorneys. This is a much better system, it's written, it's clear, parties can rely on it, which promotes consistency.

Much better than having to argue with OC "Yeah well there's a discovery commissioner opinion from 2014 that says you can't do that"

Anonymous
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Anonymous
May 10, 2022 9:52 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Agree deeply with the lamentations of both 217 and 222. However, this AO is exceptionally thorough and will be a great tool in getting and keeping unruly dicks back in place. Guaranteed, I will be keeping a copy of this AO in my portfolio and take a copy to every deposition until its supplanted or replaced.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
May 10, 2022 10:58 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

I'm guessing this is the work of Jay Young?

Anonymous
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Anonymous
May 10, 2022 11:05 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Was in front of Jay Young recently and he admonished a firm for trying to halt a deposition on the basis it was not "cross-noticed" by Co-Defendant, whatever that means.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
May 10, 2022 11:34 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Yeah that's not a thing, sounds like the admonishment was right.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
May 11, 2022 1:14 am
Reply to  Anonymous

Cross notice is a thing if you want to ask an expert questions as you need to pay for the time. Also if you want to video the depo but the noticing party doesn’t include video in original notice. Lastly, you may need a cross notice to work out how much time each party gets since a depo is limited to 7 hours.

With that said, you can’t halt a depo under this premise unless you are the expert who was not paid.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
May 11, 2022 4:14 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

4:34 here, thanks 6:14, I learned something new!

(More evidence for the need for clear deposition guidelines)

Anonymous
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Anonymous
May 11, 2022 2:58 am

I overlapped in my time at Boyd with Judge L-S and she's been on my mind since the story first broke. It must be terrible to have things play out publicly and also to be struggling at home while being/seeming objectively successful in one's career. I really hope the family can get whatever help they need. Her eldest is old enough to be googling for things about this story, so I would caution commenters above making mean remarks that there are kids at the center of this.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
May 11, 2022 5:00 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Well stated 758